>.;-■> ■./ 



> > > ) > 
>• > 

> > 

>> ) > > >> 

1 > > *»a» 

> > > >» 
>"• > > >» ' 

> > > >> 

> > >>> 

> J> >» 









> > > , ^ > 
,» ? j» > > . -> 



» 






> » 

> »> 



ZO* "> > > 



> > } 

> > > 

> > > 
> > > 
>J> } 

> > > > •» 
> > > > > 



•> »> > > • o 



> 2»; "> > 



J LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 






-> y> > > 






NITED STATES OF AMERICA. * 



> > > ^> > >• i> > <■* .^r 



> > 

> > 

> > 






^ > > > > 

, > > > : 
> ^ > > > 



> > > 

, > . > 



> > > > > 
y 3 ~ 



-> ^> ^fc 



; ■W a -^> -safe. 



^-> > 









» > 









> >^ > 

> ■ » > 

i >•;. » J> 

> > > » 3 

> } 5 ■ I/ J> 

_* > • <> 1> 
B > . !> ^> 

> > >■ V > 

"b "> ' > > 



. >> > 



2> .>»/ 



>>:» » > 

> ^ J> X> 1_ 



> > > ; 
> <"» J :>_ 

> > > - ;■" 

•' > » 3 
' > > 



► > > 5» 

. -> -> »• 



t -> ) > 

V> > > > _ 



> -> > . i. ■ 
.3J » is, >, 

J> ?» > 
,>» > 



. >■>>■> 
. >»»■ 

- "» !> > 
>> >> 

•'» > >. i 

-■*'■; >> J» 

> > 

► v. >>->^ - 



3» » :>»' -» 



;*■«> ">■> 



3»>>3^ >• M 





>> 
> > 


, ) 




> 

> 


» > 


.. J 


■, ... »■» » j 


. . > > 
~- > > > 

■ > > ■ > 












o» > 






• ■ > 
»?j ">>. >y> 

> ,-> ^ < j ^^ j»^> - 1 
^4^ <' -> >* J* •*> > ■ 



^ ^ >-'i»S : i 












>• JO* 









•. "SET > •??-. 



» > » ry 

> > * -- 

» > >> >_ 

^ > >:> ^> 
» >"."»"5 

>3> > >> > 

5>> >: 


















v>-2>3> 



-J**. ) r> 3 



o > •■>- 



. nan 






i^JrS5P»,^ 



3> > 

» > 



>^ > ^> > > 

>•» -> -•* > » 

-> ^> > > 

, >^ > > ? 
■ >> > 3 



> > » vjfc, 



-■» >> >: 






> ■> > - 1 













f 









■■*ff 

LIVES 



GEN. ULYSSES S. GRANT 



HON. HENRY WILSON, 

TOGETHER WITH SKETCHES OF 

REPUBLICAN CANDIDATES FOR CONGRESS IN INDIANA. 

/ 
J 

By WILLIAM HORATIO BARNES, 

AUTHOR OF "THE HISTORY OF CONGRESS." 



AND A SKETCH OF 



GENERAL THOMAS M. BROWNE, 

CANDIDATE FOR GOVERNOR OF INDIANA. 

By MAJOR JONATHAN W. GORDON. 



\\\\ $kt Stwl f 0riraiis. 






NEW YORK: 
W. H. BARNES, PUBLISHES, 



3 7 PARK ROW, 

1872. 



?c* 






U v 



Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1872, by 

WILLIAM H. BARNES, 
in the Office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington. 



CONTEN TS. 



Page 

ULYSSES S. GRANT 7 

HENRY WILSON 23 

THOMAS M. BROWNE 31 

GODLOVE S. ORTH 37 

WILLIAM WILLIAMS 42 

JOHN P. C. SHANKS 45 

MORTON C. HUNTER 51 

JASPER PACKARD 54 

JOHN COBURN 57 

JAMES N. TYNER 61 



ULYSSES S. GKAOT. 



^JLYSSES S. GRANT was born in Mount Pleasant, Ohio, 
April 27, 1822. His parents were of Scotch extrac- 
J|W tion, and had settled in Ohio several years before the 
birth of their eldest son. He received his early education 
by attending at intervals the village school. The first book which 
his mother put into his hands after he had learned to read was 
Weems's Life of Washington, which made a deep impression upon 
his mind, as was evinced by his giving a Canadian cousin who 
visited him a sound thrashing for calling "Washington a rebel. 

On the first of July, 1839, at the age of seventeen, he entered the 
West Point Military Academy as a cadet. Owing to limited op- 
portunities for early preparation his course was by no means easy, 
but he applied himself diligently, making steady and satisfactory 
progress. In French, Drawing, and Mathematics he was very pro- 
ficient, and as a rider he was the best in the institution. He was 
popular with his comrades, who regarded him as a youth of marked 
common sense, who performed his duties quietly, without ostenta- 
tion or display. Having completed his four years' course, he 
graduated in 1843, at the age of twenty-one. He was immediately 
appointed to the Fourth Infantry, and in 18M was ordered to Texas 
to watch the Mexican army. In the spring of 1845 he shared in 
the glories of Palo Alto, Resaca de la Palma, and Monterey. At 
the battle of Molino del Rey, and during the remainder of the 
operations before the city of Mexico, he behaved with such gal- 
lantry that he was promoted to Brevet First Lieutenant, and for 
his courage at the battle of Chapultepec he was shortly afterward 
promoted to a Brevet Captaincy. 

Immediately after the close of the Mexican war Captain Grant 
returned to the United States, and shortly thereafter he married 



8 ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

Miss Julia B. Dent, daughter of Colonel Frederick Dent, of St. 
Louis. In 1852 he was ordered to the Pacific Coast, and while 
serving in Oregon he was promoted to a full Captaincy. In 1854, 
finding a soldier's life wearisome in those wilds, he resigned his 
commission and returned to the East. His father-in-law having 
presented his wife with a farm near St. Louis, he built a log house 
upon it for his family, and applied himself with industry to the 
cultivation of the soil. After four years of constant, but not very 
profitable, labor he gave up^ farming, and removed to Galena, 
Illinois, where he became a partner with his father and a brother 
in the leather trade. He devoted himself to his new business with 
the same energy which had marked his career as a soldier and a 
farmer. The firm of " Grant & Sons " soon acquired an excellent 
reputation among business men throughout the State. 

When the national flag was fired on at Fort Sumter, Grant's 
patriotism and military ardor were aroused together. " I have 
served my country through one war," he said to a friend, " and, live 
or die, will serve her through this." He immediately began recruit- 
ing and drilling a company in the streets of Galena, and in four 
days after Lincoln's call for seventy-five thousand men he went 
with it to Springfield. Governor Yates, feeling the need of his 
military education and experience in organizing the army of volun- 
teers assembling at Springfield, at once appointed him Adjutant- 
General of the State. In this position his services were 
invaluable. 

It was soon evident that his military talents were of so high an 
order as to demand for him active service in the field. On the 
15th day of June, 1861, he received a commission as Colonel of the 
Twenty-first Regiment of Illinois Volunteers. Information having 
been received that the guerillas of Missouri threatened Quincy, on 
the Mississippi, Grant was ordered to the exposed point, marching 
his regiment one hundred and twenty miles for lack of transporta- 
tion. From Quincy he was ordered to a point on the Missouri 
River to guard the Hannibal and Hudson Railroad. In this service- 
there was little opportunity for distinction, nevertheless he showed 



ULYSSES S. GRANT. 9 

such efficiency that he was soon after promoted to the rank of 
Brigadier-General. 

In September General Grant was placed in command of the dis- 
trict of South-east Missouri, with his head-quarters at Cairo, Illinois. 
Hearing of Polk's intention of investing Paducah, Kentucky, he 
immediately fitted up an expedition, and on the 5th of September 
steamed down the river. He landed two regiments and a battery, 
and, without firing a shot, took possession of Paducah. He im- 
mediately issued a proclamation in which he urged the people to 
pursue their usual avocations without alarm, assuring them that 
he had come among them "not as an enemy but as a fellow- 
citizen." 

Satisfied that the enemy was gathering troops and supplies at 
Columbus for operations in Missouri, Grant, on the 6th of Novem- 
ber, embarked his forces, and dropped down to Island Number One, 
eleven miles above Columbus. The troops landed on the Missouri 
shore, and marched about three miles to Belmont, where the rebels 
occupied a camp strongly intrenched. Grant moved on their 
works, and while at the head of the skirmish line had his horse 
shot under him. The fight was very severe for about four hours, 
but finally General Grant ordered a charge, and drove the enemy 
through their encampment. Thousands of them took refuge on 
their transports, but many prisoners were taken, and all their 
artillery was captured. After this success, when 'General Grant 
was marching his forces back to the transports, he was intercepted 
by a large rebel force from Columbus who were confident of cutting 
off his return to the river. " We are surrounded," excitedly ex- 
claimed an aide riding up. " Yery well," said General Grant, 
" we must cut our way out as we cut our way in. We have 
whipped them once, and I think we can do it again." They did 
cut their way through thirteen regiments of infantry and three 
squadrons of cavalry. They regained their boats and returned to 
Cairo, after having taken one hundred and fifty prisoners, and de- 
stroyed much material of war. 

On the first of February, 1862, the War Department ordered 



10 ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

the reduction of Fort Henry, on the Tennessee River, and Fort 
Donelson, on the Cumberland, for the purpose of establishing points 
of operation against Memphis, Columbus, and Nashville. This 
duty was assigned to General Grant, with a land force of seventeen 
thousand men, and to Commodore Foote, with a fleet of seventeen 
gunboats. Fort Henry with seventeen heavy guns, and garrisoned by 
twenty-eight hundred men, was captured on the 6th of February. 

Early on the morning of the 12th General Grant, with eight light 
batteries and a main column of fifteen thousand men, commenced his 
march to Fort Donelson, twelve miles across the country. Fort 
Donelson was situated on a rocky eminence which commanded the 
river for several miles above and below. Numerous batteries, pro- 
tected by strong works, threw thirty-two and sixty-four pound shot 
Bastions, rifle-pits, and abatis opposed every approach. Twenty 
thousand soldiers manned the works, commanded by Generals 
Buckner, Pillow, and Floyd. Before noon on the 12th the rebel 
pickets were driven in by Grant's advance, and before dark the fort 
was invested on all its land sides. The next day, with continuous 
skirmishing, the investment was drawn closer to the works. On the 
following day the enemy made a vigorous attack, which was re- 
pulsed. General Grant ordered a charge, which was vigorously 
made, and after a fierce struggle he gained a part of the intrench- 
ments. Under cover of the night two of the rebel generals, with as 
many of their troops as could be embarked on steamers, abandoned 
the fort and ascended the river. Early on the following morning 
General Buckner dispatched a note to General Grant proposing an 
armistice in which to consider terms of capitulation. General 
Grant replied, "No terms except unconditional and immediate sur- 
render can be accepted. I propose to move immediately on your 
works." Buckner made haste to accept the terms imposed. Ten 
thousand prisoners of war, sixty-five guns, seventeen thousand six 
hundred small arms, with an immense amount of military stores, 
fell into the hands of the victors. 

This brilliant victory, penetrating, as it did, the rebel line of de- 
fense west of the Alleghany Mountains, occasioned great rejoicing 



ULYSSES S. GRANT. 11 

throughout the North. Secretary Stanton recommended General 
Grant for a Major-General's commission. President Lincoln nomi- 
nated him to the Senate the same day. The Senate at once con- 
firmed the - nomination. The new military district of Tennessee 
was now assigned him. 

The successful General did not rest idly upon his laurels. He 
took immediate possession of Nashville, on the Cumberland, but 
established his headquarters at Fort Henry, that he might also con- 
trol the Tennessee River. It was deemed important to dislodge a 
large force of the enemy concentrating at Corinth. For this pur- 
pose General Grant, with thirty-five thousand men, ascended the 
Tennessee River to Pittsburg Landing. There they were disem- 
barked to await the arrival of General Buell, who was marching 
from Nashville to join them with a force of forty thousand. 
Johnston, the rebel General, in command at Corinth, resolved to 
throw his whole force of seventy thousand men upon Grant and 
annihilate his army before he could be joined by Buell. 

Early on the morning of the 6th of April, 1862, the rebel army 
suddenly and unexpectedly attacked the Union troops. Although 
our forces fought with desperation, they were driven nearly three 
miles with dreadful carnage on both sides. Night terminated a 
day of disaster to the Union arms. The rebel general telegraphed 
the news of his success to Richmond. He had no doubt of an easy 
and complete victory on the morrow. General Grant, however, 
never despaired of the result. No thought of ultimate defeat 
seemed to enter his mind. During the night he reorganized his 
broken forces, and formed a new line of battle. Twenty thousand 
of General Buell's troops, arriving after dark, were placed in posi- 
tion for the coming conflict. Relying upon the remainder of 
BuelFs army for a reserve, he disposed all his available force for 
immediate action. With the dawn of day the national army along 
its whole line moved upon the astonished enemy with an impetu- 
osity inspired by confidence of victory. All day the conflict raged 
with terrific fury, and at night the discomfited foe retreated to 
their intrenchments at Corinth, having lost nearly twenty thousand 



12 ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

men. General Grant's loss was over twelve thousand men. This 
victory, though costly, was of inestimable value to the Union cause, 
giving, as it did, our armies the key to a large extent of the 
southern country, and opening the Mississippi to Memphis. 

The Union forces then advanced to the siege of Corinth, where 
the enemy had strongly intrenched themselves. They abandoned 
the place before the advance of the national forces, who occupied 
their works. General Grant made Memphis his headquarters, 
when he took immediate and successful measures to suppress the 
crafty secessionists and unscrupulous traders who infested that city. 
He put negroes to useful employment, and in a short time, under 
his wise administration, order and security reigned. On the 17th 
of September General Grant made an advance on the enemy at 
Iuka. After a stubborn resistance they evacuated that place on 
the night of the 19th. On the 3d of October the enemy, number- 
ing forty thousand, attacked Grant's defenses at Corinth, but after 
a sanguinary conflict, lasting until noon of the 4th, the rebels re- 
treated, leaving their dead and wounded on the field. On the 8th 
of October General Grant received a congratulatory order from 
President Lincoln. Envious of the successful general, a few days 
after the victory of Corinth certain persons waited on President 
Lincoln and accused him of being a drunkard. After patiently 
listening to the story, he replied, "I wish all my generals would 
drink Grant's whisky." 

The next great military movement was made upon Vicksburg, 
where the enemy, strongly fortified, commanded the Mississippi. 
General Grant had full power given him to accomplish in his own 
way the capture of this stronghold. By a series of masterly move- 
ments he concentrated an army of fifty thousand men on the land 
side, in a line extending from the Yazoo above to the Mississippi 
below the town. Commodore Porter, with a fleet of sixty vessels 
carrying two hundred and eighty guns, and eight hundred men, 
was directed to co-operate from the river. 

The siege which followed was one of the most memorable in 
history. It began early in February, 1863, and during the months 



ULYSSES S. GRANT. 13 

it was protracted scarcely a day passed without a sanguinary battle. 
Shot and shell from the gunboats and batteries compelled the in- 
habitants to burrow in the hillsides for security. Assaults by the 
national troops were repulsed with such terrible loss that it seemed 
the only hope of reducing the stronghold was in regular siege 
operations. 

In the progress of the siege a mine was dug under one of the 
most important batteries of the enemy and charged with two 
thousand pounds of powder. At length, on the 25th of June, 
1865, the mine was ready to do its work of destruction: The ex- 
plosion was to be the signal for a simultaneous attack by land and 
water. At three o'clock in the afternoon the mine exploded, and 
immediately, over a line of twelve miles in length, the storm of 
battle opened upon the city with intense fury. 

But the defense was as determined as the assault, and the doomed 
city still held out. When General Grant was asked if he could 
take the place, he replied, " Certainly. I cannot tell exactly when 
I shall take the town, but I mean to stay here till I do, if it takes 
me thirty years." 

The final assault was to take place on the 4th of July, but on 
the day before a white flag appeared on the rebel works, and soon 
after two officers came out with a communication from Pemberton 
proposing an armistice for arranging terms of surrender. Grant 
replied that "unconditional surrender" only would be accepted. 
General Pemberton, hoping to obtain more favorable terms, urged 
a personal interview. The two generals met at three o'clock under 
an oak-tree less than two hundred feet from the rebel lines. Grant 
adhered to his demand, and the rebel commander, knowing that 
further resistance would be vain, after conferring with his officers 
accepted the terms imposed. At ten o'clock on the morning of the 
eighty-seventh anniversary of American Independence, white flags 
were raised along the rebel lines announcing their surrender. 
General Grant, with his staff, at the head of his army, entered the 
city and took possession of the works so gloriously won. The sur- 
render included one hundred and seventy-two cannon and over 



14 ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

thirty thousand prisoners of war. The fall of Yicksburg was the 
most disastrous blow which had thus far been inflicted on the re- 
bellion. Its immediate effect was to open the Mississippi from 
Cairo to the Gulf. 

General Grant would have moved immediately upon Mobile, 
but he received orders from Washington to co-operate with General 
Banks in a movement upon Texas. Accordingly, on the 30th of 
August he left Vicksburg for New Orleans. In that city he was 
thrown from his horse, receiving injuries which disabled him for 
months. 

In East Tennessee affairs were not moving prosperously for the 
Union cause. The battle of Chickamauga had resulted in the loss 
to the national troops of sixteen thousand men. They took posi- 
tion behind their intrenchments at Chattanooga, their lines of 
communication were cut off, and they were threatened with de- 
struction by a rebel force of eighty thousand men. In this emer- 
gency General Grant was, on the 16th of October, 1863, assigned 
to the command of the Military Division of the Mississippi, in- 
cluding the Departments of the Ohio, the Cumberland, and the 
Tennessee. On the 19th of October he telegraphed to General 
Thomas, " Hold Chattanooga at all hazards. I will be there as 
soon as possible." On the evening of the 23d he entered Chat- 
tanooga, and his arrival at once put a new aspect upon affairs. 
At once he applied himself with immense energy to the work of 
making sure his lines of communication, hastening reinforcements, 
and securing supplies. "The enemy,'- said the " Kichmond En- 
quirer," " were out-fought at Chickamauga, but the present position 
of affairs looks as though we had been out-generaled at Chat- 
tanooga." 

General Sherman, with the Fifteenth Army Corps, had marched 
his army from the Mississippi as rapidly as possible. At midnight, 
on the 23d of November, he crossed the Tennessee, above Chat- 
tanooga, and took a position to attack the enemy's right north of 
Missionary Kidge. The next day General Hooker stormed Lookout 
Mountain, on the enemy's extreme left, and gained a brilliant 



ULYSSES S. GRANT. 15 

victory in the memorable " battle above the clouds." The next 
day the battle was opened along the whole line, the main attack 
being at the center, from an elevation where General Grant took 
position. The Union forces, led by generals whose names have 
become immortal, fought with a patriotic ardor which has never 
been surpassed. For miles the mountains and valleys were ablaze 
with the lightning of battle. The conflict raged with terrific fury 
during all the hours of that memorable day, but when night came 
the national flag floated over all the works which the enemy had 
held with so much apparent security in the morning. General 
Grant telegraphed to Washington, " Lookout Mountain top, all the 
rifle-pits in Chattanooga Yalley, and Missionary Ridge entire, have 
been carried and are now held by us." 

This brilliant victory was one of the most decisive steps toward 
the final overthrow of the rebellion. The scale in the west turned 
irretrievably against the Confederacy when its armies were hurled 
from the summits of Look-out Mountain and Missionary Ridge. 
Still General Grant did not rest. He pursued the routed foe to- 
ward Atlanta, capturing thousands of prisoners, and securing im- 
mense supplies. 

General Grant had now three vast armies under his command, 
occupying over a thousand miles in extent. Feeling the weight of 
responsibilities resting upon him, he wished to acquaint himself 
personally with the condition of his command. In mid-winter, 
through storms and drifting snows which incumbered the mountain 
passes, on horseback he visited the outposts of his army through an 
extent of country from Knoxville, on the one hand, to St. Louis on 
the other. 

A grateful country honored the soldier whose vigorous blows had 
told so terribly on the rebellion. A resolution was passed in Con- 
gress presenting the thanks of that body to General Grant and the 
officers and soldiers under his command. A gold medal was 
ordered to be struck off and presented to General Grant. On the 
4th of February, 1864, Congress revived the rank of Lieutenant- 
General, which was conferred upon General Grant. He was sum- 



16 ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

moned to Washington to receive his credentials, and to enter upon 
the command of all the armies of the United States. As he made 
his rapid journey to the capital multitudes gathered at every rail- 
road station to catch a glimse of the man whose achievements sur- 
passed those of any other living General. He was received by 
President Lincoln with cordiality characteristic of a noble soul in 
which no spark of jealousy ever found a lodgment. 

On the 9th of March, in the executive mansion, in the presence 
of the Cabinet and other -distinguished persons, General Grant 
received his commission as Lieutenant-General. President Lincoln 
having uttered some appropriate words of congratulation, General 
Grant replied : 

" Mr. President, I accept this commission with gratitude for the 
high honor conferred. "With the aid of the noble armies who have 
fought in so many battles for our common country, it will be my 
earnest endeavor not to disappoint your expectations. I feel the 
full weight of the responsibility now devolving upon me. I know 
that if it is properly met it will be due to these armies, and above 
all to the favor of that Providence which leads both nations and 
men." 

General Grant now concentrated all his energies upon the work 
of crushing the rebellion and terminating the war by the destruc- 
tion of the rebel armies. He determined to concentrate the armies 
of the United States in a general attack upon the Confederate 
capital. The veteran Generals of the Union, with their splendid 
commands of tried soldiers, were assigned their several parts in 
the impending struggle. 

General Grant established his head-quarters with the army of 
the Potomac, which was encamped among the hills north of the 
Rapidan. Here he massed all his available forces preparatory to 
an attack upon General Lee, who occupied the south side of the 
river with as brave an army as ever went to battle. 

At midnight, on the third of May, 1864, General Grant left his 
camp with an army one hundred and fifty thousand strong, and 
crossed the Rapidan a few miles below the intrenchments of the 



ULYSSES S. GRANT. 17 

enemy. In three columns the army penetrated the "Wilderness, 
hoping by a flank movement to gain the river of the enemy. At 
noon on the 5th General Lee, with an immense force, suddenly 
emerged from the forest, and fell upon the center of Grant's ex- 
tended line, hoping to cut it in two, and then destroy each part 
piece-meal. The battle raged with tremendous fury during the 
remainder of the day, and when night came no less than six thou- 
sand had fallen between the two armies on the bloody field. 

At the rising of the morrow's sun the battle was renewed. ]STo 
army ever had a braver or more determined foe. The forest was 
ablaze with the fire of battle in the face of the enemy, who contested 
every inch of ground, but by nightfall had been driven back two 
miles from where the battle opened in the morning. The third 
day of the battle of the Wilderness was distinguished by the retreat 
of the enemy toward his intrenchments near Spottsylvania Court- 
house. After a series of bloody battles extending through the en- 
tire day, the rebels reached their intrenchments in the night. Early 
on the following morning, which was Sunday, General Grant fell 
upon their works, and after a long day of battle the enemy were 
driven from their first line of intrenchments with the loss of 
twenty-five hundred prisoners. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednes- 
day the battle raged with constantly augmenting fury. The latter 
day was signalized by fourteen hours of unremitting battle, and at 
its close General Grant, after announcing to the Government the 
results achieved, added, " I propose to fight it out on this line if it 
takes all summer." 

During the night the national troops marched by another flank 
movement, and before dawn had gained a series of ridges two miles 
beyond the Spottsylvania Court house. But the enemy, ever on 
the alert, had already manned intrenchments before them which 
had previously been prepared to resist any such movement toward 
Kichmond. General Grant attacked their intrenchments, but they 
were too strong to be taken by assault. At night he sent a force 
of cavalry ten miles forward to seize a station on the Kichmond 
and Fredericksburg Kailroad, and in the morning the whole army 



18 ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

followed. By this advance of General Grant the rebels were left 
nearly twelve miles in his rear. General Lee was alarmed. He 
feared that his line of communication might be cut off, and that 
General Grant might take the Confedederate capital without his 
being able to strike a blow in its defense. In haste he abandoned 
his position, and hastened toward another line of defense on the 
banks of the North Anna river. Both armies moved rapidly by 
parallel lines until they confronted each other on the banks of the 
North Anna, within forty miles of Richmond. Here Lee being 
too strongly intrenched to be successfully attacked, General Grant, 
concealing his purpose by a strong demonstration, marched rapidly 
to a point on the Pamunky river, within fourteen miles of Rich- 
mond. He crossed the Pamunky, and on "Wednesday morning, 
June 1, he was with his army at Cold Harbor face to face with the 
army of General Lee, now concentrated behind the defenses of 
Richmond. These works, bristling with guns, were achievements 
of the highest engineering skill, and were manned by hosts of brave 
and determined defenders. There followed a week of as deperate 
and determined fighting as the war had witnessed. Day after clay 
the brave battalions of the Union army were hurled against the 
rebels. It was evident that the time had not come for the capture 
of these works. The emergency displayed the resources of the 
Commanding General in devising and executing a movement bold 
as it was brilliant. Concealing his operations under a fire of skir- 
mishers, General Grant, with the mass of his army, commenced 
another flank movement. Descending the left bank of the Chicka- 
hoininy, he crossed it several miles below the enemy's lines, and by 
a rapid march reached the James River, and crossed it on pontoon 
bridges. By this brilliant movement he placed his forces in rear 
of Lee's army, south of Richmond. After effecting a junction with 
General Butler at Bermuda Hundred on the 15th of June, he crossed 
the Appomattox and commenced an attack on Petersburg. 

General Lee, startled at hearing the thunder of Grant's cannon 
far to the south of him, made haste to abandon his now useless 
ramparts and turn his army to the defense of Richmond in another 



ULYSSES S. GRANT. 19 

quarter. A triple line of intrenchments reared for the defense of 
Petersburg were manned by soldiers who fought with the valor of 
desperation. After a terrible struggle the outer line was captured, 
with sixteen guns and three hundred prisoners. After two days 
more of bloody battle, whose scenes can never be adequately de- 
scribed, General Lee abandoned his second line, and concentrated 
all his strength for the defense of his inner works. In those three 
days of battle the Union Army lost ten thousand men in killed, 
wounded, and missing. It was evident that Petersburg, which was 
the key to Richmond, was defended by works so strong that they 
could only be taken by siege. 

Firmly, as in a vice, General Grant held the bulk of the rebel 
army, while General Sherman led a resistless host from Atlanta 
in a rapid and desolating march through Georgia and the Carolinas 
to co-operate with the army before the ramparts of Richmond. 
The Rebellion was tottering to its fall under the wise policy which 
placed General Grant at the head of the Armies of the United 
States. He comprehended the situation with the perception of a 
statesman and the intuition of a military genius, as the following 
extract from one of his official reports will show : 

" From an early period in the Rebellion I have been impressed 
with the idea that the active and continuous operations of all the 
troops that could be brought into the field, regardless of season and 
weather, was necessary to a speedy termination of the war. From 
the first I was firm in the conviction tHat no peace could be had 
that would be stable, and conducive to the happiness of the people, 
both North and South, until the military power of the Rebellion 
was entirely broken. I therefore determined, first, to use the 
greatest number of troops practicable against the armed force of 
the enemy, preventing him from using the same force at different 
seasons against first one and then another of our armies, and from 
the possibility of repose for refitting and producing necessary sup- 
plies for carrying on resistance; second, to hammer continuallv 
against the armed force of the enemy and his resources, until by 
mere attrition, if in no other way. there should be nothing left to 



20 ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

him but an equal submission, with the loyal section of our common 
country, to the Constitution and laws of the land." 

Weeks and months rolled on, every day being signalized by im- 
portant military operations. General Grant was constantly making 
progress toward the end he kept continually in view — the destruc- 
tion of " the military power of the Rebellion." It was near the 
end of March, 1865. General Sherman having swept through the 
heart of the Confederacy, had turned his victorious soldiers north- 
ward, and formed a junction with forces sent by General Grant to 
meet him. 

It was evident that the days of the Rebellion were numbered. 
It was feared by General Grant that the beleaguered enemy might 
make his escape from Richmond, and protract for a time his hope- 
less struggle. Seeing indications of such a purpose on the part of 
General Lee, Grant hurled his whole army at once upon the rebel 
lines. For three days the battle raged with a fury which no previ- 
ous conflicts had surpassed. Lee was convinced that he could 
not resist the assault of another day, and on the night of the 3d of 
April fled, with the shattered remnants of his army. The National 
troops entered the abandoned works, and immediately the nation 
was electrified by the joyful news : 

" Richmond and Petersburg are ours. A third part of Lee's army 
is destroyed. For the remainder there is no escape." 

In anticipation of the flight of Lee from Richmond, General 
Grant had placed the Fifth Corps in such a position that it was 
thrown in front of the enemy, and thus cut off his retreat. Lee's 
army was now at the mercy of General Grant. The rebel troops 
were so hemmed in, and so exposed to shot and shell, that a few 
hours would have sufficed for their destruction. Sympathy for 
them induced General Grant to make the first advances, and urge 
General Lee to surrender and spare him the pain of destroying the 
heroic but misguided soldiers of the Rebellion. Lee asked the 
terms of surrender which would be accepted, and General Grant 
replied, " Peace being my first desire, there is but one condition I 
insist upon, namely, that the men surrendered shall be disqualified 



ULYSSES S. GRANT. 21 

for taking up arms against the Government of the United States 
until properly exchanged." General Lee proposed an interview, 
that he and General Grant might confer upon the " restoration of 
peace." General Grant's reply indicates his wise perception of the 
only responsibility which rested upon him : 

"As I have no authority to treat on the subject of peace, the 
meeting proposed could lead to no good. I will state, however, 
General, that I am equally anxious for peace with yourself, and the 
whole Worth entertains the same feeling. The terms upon which 
peace may be had are well understood. By the South laying do we 
their arms they will hasten this most desirable event, save thou- 
sands of human lives, and hundreds of millions of property not yet 
destroyed." 

General Lee saw that delay or parley would serve no useful 
purpose with such a man. On the afternoon of the 9th of April 
he accepted the simple and decisive terms of surrender imposed 
by General Grant. All the material of war was to be given up, 
and the officers and men to give their parole not to serve against 
the United States until exchanged. Johnston surrendered to 
General Sherman a few days later. The great Rebellion was at 
an end. A grateful country acknowledged that the chief instru- 
ment in bringing about this happy result was General Ulysses S. 
Grant. His countrymen heaped honors upon him without parsi- 
mony. Congress revived the grade of General, which none had 
held since Washington, and on the 25th of July, 1865, this peer- 
less military rank was conferred upon General Grant. 

It soon became evident that it was the wish of the people to ele- 
vate him to the Presidency. On the 21st of May, 1868, the Re- 
publican Convention, assembled at Chicago, gave him a unanimous 
nomination as candidate for this high office. He accepted the 
nomination in apt and modest terms, closing with the words, " Let 
us have peace," which were accepted by a long distracted country 
as auspicious of better days. The twenty-six States which partici- 
pated in the election gave two hundred and fourteen electoral votes 
for Grant, and eighty for Seymour, the opposing candidate. 



f 



22 ULYSSES S. GRANT. 

On the 4th of March, 1869, General Grant entered upon the 
duties of his high office. He surrounded himself with able counsel- 
ors, who were fully in accord with him in their purpose to give the 
country an honest, economical, and efficient administration of the 
Government. 

The administration is remarkable for the accomplishment of two 
results apparently incompatible with each other, and yet both most 
fortunate for the country — a great reduction of internal taxes and 
an immense diminution of the public debt. During the first three 
years of Grant's administration there was a total reduction of 
$130,460,580 taxes annually ; and yet, in the face of these reduc- 
tions, by an efficient and faithful administration of the revenue laws, 
and by an honest application of the money collected, the public 
debt has been diminished at the rate of more than one hundred 
millions of dollars a year, saving an annual outlay for interest of 
thirty-seven and one third millions. At the same time the public 
credit has been greatly strengthened. The price of American 
securities has constantly advanced, until they are equal in value to 
gold. The appreciation of our paper money is marked by the fall 
of gold from 132 in 1869 to 110 and 112 in 1872. 

In our foreign relations the affairs of the nation have been wisely 
administered. Important and threatening differences with foreign 
nations have been settled by treaty. A new and important prin- 
ciple has been introduced into our foreign intercourse, which prom- 
ises to settle differences between nations upon the principle of 
arbitration. This, it is believed, will secure the Government against 
the recurrence of war, and tend greatly to advance the civilization 
and happiness of mankind. 

All the great questions raised by the war have been settled. 
Emancipation, reconstruction, impartial suffrage, general amnesty, 
and civil service reform have all been secured, either by constitu- 
tional amendment or by provisions of law. All parties profess to 
acquiesce in these results. No considerable faction in any State 
continues to agitate for the overthrow of these measures, or to dis- 
pute the justice and wisdom of the Ecpublican policy. 




H 



' 




'trie 



HESTRY WILSON'. 




'EKRY WILSON was born at Farmington, K H., Feb- 
ruary 16, 1812, of poor parentage. He was early appren- 
ticed to a farmer in his native town, with whom he contin- 
ued eleven years, during which period his school privileges, at dif- 
ferent intervals, amounted to about one year. He early formed a 
taste for reading, which he eagerly indulged on Sundays and even- 
ings by fire-light and moon-light. Thus, in the course of his eleven 
years' apprenticeship, he read about 1,000 volumes — mainly of his- 
tory and biography. 

On coming of age, young "Wilson left Farmington, and with all his 
possessions packed upon his back, walked to Natick, Mass., and hired 
himself to a shoemaker. Having learned the trade, and labored 
nearly three years, he returned to New Hampshire for the purpose ot 
securing an education. His educational career, however, was sud- 
denly arrested by the insolvency of the man to whom he had entrust- 
ed his money, and in 1838 he returned to Natick to resume his trade 
of shoemaking. 

Wilson was now twenty-six years of age, and up to this period his 
life had been mainly devoted to labor. It was in allusion to this that 
when, in 1858, he replied on the floor of Congress to the famous 
"mudsill" speech of Gov. Hammond of South Carolina, he gave ut- 
terance to these eloquent words : 

" Sir, I am the son of a hireling manual laborer, who, with the 
frosts of seventy winters on his brow, 'lives by daily labor.' I, too, 
have ' lived by daily labor.' I, too, have been a ' hireling manual la- 
borer.' Poverty cast its dark and chilling shadow over the home of 



24 HENRY WILSON. 

ray childhood ; and want was sometimes there — an unbidden guest. 
At the age of ten years — to aid him who gave me being in keeping 
the gaunt specter from the hearth of the mother who bore me — I left 
the home of my boyhood, and went forth to earn my bread by 
' daily labor.' " 

From his youth, Mr. "Wilson seems to have been deeply and perma 
nently imbued with the spirit of hostility to Slavery, and few men 
have dealt more numerous or heavy blows against the institution. 
His political career commenced in 1840. During this year he made 
upwards of sixty speeches in behalf of the election of Gen. Harrison. 
In the succeeding five years, he was three times elected a Representa- 
tive, and twice a Senator, to the Massachusetts legislature. Here his 
stern opposition to Slavery was at once apparent, and in 1845 he was 
selected, with the poet Whittier, to bear to Washington the great anti- 
slavery petition of Massachusetts against the annexation of Texas. 
In the same year he introduced in the legislature a resolution declar- 
ing the unalterable hostility of Massachusetts to the further extension 
and longer continuance of Slavery in America, and her fixed deter 
mination to use all constitutional and lawful means for its extinction. 
I lis speech on this occasion was pronounced by the leading anti-sla- 
very journals to be the fullest and most comprehensive on the Slavery 
question that had yet been made in any legislative body in the coun- 
try. The resolution was adopted by a large majority. 

Mr. Wilson was a delegate to the Whig National Convention of 
184S, and on the rejection of the anti-slavery resolutions presented 
to that body, he withdrew from it, and was prominent in the organi- 
zation of the Free Soil party. In the following year he was chosen 
chairman of the Free Soil State Committee of Massachusetts — a post 
which he filled during four years. In 1850 he was again a member 
of the State legislature : and in 1851 and 1852 was a member of the 
Senate, and president of that body. He was also president of the 
Free Soil National Conzention at Pittsburg in 1852, and chairman of 
the National Committee. He was the Free Soil candidate for Con- 
gress in 1852. In 1853 and 1854 he was an unsuccessful candidate 



HENRY WILSON. 25 

foi Governor of Massachusetts. In 1853 he was an active and influ- 
ential member of the Massachusetts Constitutional Convention. In 
1855, was elected to the United States Senate to fill the vacancy 
occasioned by the resignation of Mr. Everett. 

Mr. Wilson took his seat in the Senate in February, 1855, and, by 
a "ote nearly unanimous, has been thrice re-elected to that office. As 
a Senator, he has been uniformly active, earnest, faithful, prominent, 
and influential, — invariably evincing an inflexible and fearless opposi- 
tion to Slavery and the slave-power. In his very first speech, made 
a few days after entering the Senate, he announced for himself and 
his anti-slavery friends their uncompromising position. " We mean, 
sir," said he, " to place in the councils of the Nation men who, in the 
words of Jefferson, have sworn on the altar of God eternal hostility 
to every kind of oppression over the mind and body of men." This 
was the key-note of Mr. Wilson's career in the Senate from that day 
to this. 

In the spring of 1856 occurred the assault upon Mr. Sumner by 
Preston S. Brooks of South Carolina. Mr. Wilson — whose fear- 
lessness is equal to his firmness and consistency — denounced this act 
as " brutal, murderous, and cowardly." These words, uttered on the 
floor of the Senate, drew forth a challenge from Mr. Brooks, which 
was declined by Wilson in terms' so just, dignified, and manly, as to 
secure the warm approval of all good and right-minded people. 

At the commencement of the rebellion, the Senate assigned to 
Mr. Wilson the Chairmanship of the Military Committee. In view 
of his protracted experience as a member of this committee, joined 
with his great energy and industry, probably no man in the Senate 
was more completely qualified for this most important post. In this 
committee originated most of the legislation for raising, organizing, 
and governing the armies, while thousands of nominations of officers 
of all grades were referred to it. The labors of Mr. Wilson, as 
chairman of the committee, were immense. Important legislation 
affecting the armies, and the thousands of nominations, could not 
but excite the liveliest interest of officers and their friends ; and they 



26 HENRY WILSON. 

ever freely visited him, consulted with, and wrote to him. Private 
soldiers, too, ever felt at liberty to visit him, or write to him concern- 
ing their affairs. Thousands did so, and so promptly did he attend 
to their needs that they called him the " Soldier's Friend." 

As clearly as any man in the country, Mr. Wilson, at the com- 
mencement of the rebellion, discerned the reality and magnitude of 
the impending conflict. Hence, at the fall of Fort Sumter, when 
President Lincoln issued a call for 75,000 men, the clear-sighted Sen- 
ator advised that the call should be for 300,000 ; and immediately in- 
duced the Secretary of War to double the number of regiments 
assigned to Massachusetts. In the prompt forwarding of these troops 
Mr. Wilson was specially active. Throughout that spring, and until 
the meeting of Congress, July 4th, he was constantly occupying him- 
self at Washington, aiding the soldiers, working in the hospitals, and 
preparing the necessary military measures to be presented to the na- 
tional legislature. 

Congress assembled ; and, on the second day of the session, Mr. 
Wilson introduced several important bills relating to the military 
wants of the country, one of which was a bill authorizing the employ- 
ment of 500,000 volunteers for three years. Subsequently Mr. Wil- 
son introduced another bill authorizing the President to accept 500,- 
000 volunteers additional to those already ordered to be employed. 
During this extra session, Mr. Wilson, as Chairman of the Military 
Committee, introduced other measures of great importance relating to 
the appointment of army officers, the purchase of arms and muni- 
tions of war, and increasing the pay of private soldiers, — all of 
which measures were enacted. In fact, such was his activity and ef- 
ficiency in presenting and urging forward plans for increasing and 
organizing the armies necessary to put down the rebellion, that Gen- 
eral Scott declared of Mr. Wilson that he " had done more work in 
that short session than all the chairmen of the military committees 
had done for the last twenty years." 

After the defeat at Bull Run, Mr. Wilson was earnestly solicited by 
Mr. Cameron, Mr. Seward, and Mr. Chase, to raise a regiment of in- 



HENRY WILSON. 27 

fantry, a company of sharp-shooters, and a battery of artillery. Ac- 
cordingly, returning to Massachusetts, he issued a stirring appeal 
to the young men of the State, addressed several public meetings, 
and in forty days he succeeded in rallying 2,300 men. He was com- 
missioned colonel of the Twenty-second Regiment, and with his regi- 
ment, a company of sharp-shooters, and the third battery of artillery, 
he returned to Washington as colonel ; and afterwards, as aid on the 
staff of General McClellan, Mr. "Wilson served until the beginning 
of the following year, when pressing duties in Congress forced him 
to resign his military commission. 

Returning to his seat in the Senate, Mr. Wilson originated and 
carried through several measures of great importance to the interests 
of the army and the country. Among these was the passage of bills 
relating to courts-martial, allotment certificates, army-signal depart- 
ment, sutlers and their duties, the army medical department, en- 
couragement of enlistments, making free the wives and children 
of colored soldiers, a uniform system of army ambulances, increas- 
ing still further the pay of soldiers, establishing a national mili- 
tary and naval asylum for totally disabled officers and men of the 
volunteer forces, encouraging the employment of disabled and dis- 
charged soldiers, securing to colored soldiers equality of pay, and 
other wise and judicious provisions. 

Invariably true and constant in his sympathies for the down- 
trodden and oppressed, Mr. Wilson never once forgot the slave, for 
whose freedom and elevation he had consecrated his time and energies 
for more than a quarter of a century. He actively participated in 
the measures culminating in the anti-slavery amendment to the Consti- 
tution. He introduced the bill abolishing Slavery in the District of - 
Columbia, by which more than three thousand slaves were made free, 
and Slavery made for ever impossible in the capital of the Nation. He 
introduced a provision, which became a law, May 21, 1862, "provid- 
ing that persons of color in the District of Columbia should be sub- 
ject to the same laws to which white persons were subject ; that 
they should be tried for offenses against the laws in the same manner 



28 HENRY WILSON. 

as white persons were tried ; and, if convicted, be liable to the same 
penalty, and no other, as would be inflicted upon white persons for 
the same crime." He introduced the amendment to the Militia Bill 
of 1795, which made negroes a part of the militia, and providing for 
the freedom of all such men of color as should be called into the ser- 
vice of the United States, as well as the freedom of their mothers, 
wives, and children. This, with one or two other measures of a kin- 
dred character, introduced by Mr. Wilson, and urged forward 
through much and persistent opposition, resulted in the freedom of 
nearly 100,000 slaves in Kentucky alone. 

After the close of the war, Mr. Wilson was no less active and in- 
fluential in procuring legislation for the suitable reduction of the army 
than he had been in originating measures for its creation. Making an 
extended tour through the Southern States, he delivered numerous 
able and instructive addresses on political and national topics, 
which had a marked effect in promoting practical reconstruction. 

It was in his place in the Senate, however, that he performed 
his most effective labors in promoting the great work of recon- 
struction. With the eye of a statesman he surveyed the field, and 
was among the first to discover the means necessary to accomplish 
the desired end. He saw that the foundation of enduring pros- 
perity to the South and peace to the country must be a guarantee 
of civil and political rights to the colored people, firmly imbedded 
in the Constitution. This having been accomplished, he favored 
the mildest measures which sound statesmanship could devise in the 
treatment of persons recently in rebellion. Though possessed of 
rare kindness of heart, he did not permit his emotions to blind him 
to the necessity of adopting such measures as would insure the 
country against a recurrence of the bloody tragedy of rebellion. 

During all his public life Mr. Wilson has always been bold and 
eloquent in the advocacy of measures tending to give employment 
to working-men, and open to them all possible chances for advance- 
ment He has been a strong advocate of homestead acts, of laws 
exempting from seizure the poor man's furniture and a portion of 
his wages, of laws abolishing imprisonment for debt, laws to open 



HENRY WILSON. 29 

the public lands to actual settlers, and laws to reduce the hours 
of labor. He advocated the Eight Hour Law as likely to promote 
"the material, intellectual, and moral interests of the masses of the 
people, whose lot it was to toil for their subsistence." Of his more 
than thirteen hundred public speeches a large majority have 
been directly in the interests of the people who are doing the 
world's necessary work. 

His sympathies for the unfortunate have been manifested not only 
in word but in deed. He is said to have devoted a large portion 
of his salary as a Senator and his pay as an author to the relief 
of the soldier and the unfortunate. He would never have to do 
with gaius which were in any way wrung from the poor or the 
oppressed. While he was engaged in manufacturing shoes one of 
his Southern customers who had failed promised to compromise by 
paying fifty per cent of the indebtedness, but proposed to raise the 
money in part by the sale of his slaves. Wilson would not hear of 
this, but gave him a full discharge of the whole debt, requesting 
him never to send any dividend unless it could be done from money 
not obtained by the traffic in human beings. 

Mr. Wilson was among the first to declare himself in favor of 
General Grant as the Republican candidate for the Presidency in 
1868. After the nomination he entered with great zeal into the 
canvass, and made some of the ablest speeches of the campaign. 
He gave the administration a steady and consistent support, not 
hesitating, however, in a spirit of candor, to criticise its mistakes. 

President Grant having been unanimously nominated for re-elec- 
tion by the Republican National Convention of 1872, the second 
place upon the ticket was assigned to Henry Wilson. This nom- 
ination was every-where received with approval by the party. In 
Wilson the} 7 believed they had a candidate who in every emergency 
would do honor to his party and the country. 

Mr. Wilson was married in 1840 to Miss Harriet M. Howe, of 
Natick, a young lady of intelligence, amiability, and beauty. Her 
early loss of health prevented her from taking an active part in 
society. She died, much lamented, in May, 1870, after a painful 



30 HENRY WILSON. 

illness of several years. Their only child, Lieutenant Hamilton 
Wilson, of the army, died in Texas in 1866, at the age of twenty. 

In early life Mr. Wilson saw the lamentable effects of the use of 
alcoholic liquors as a beverage, in causing crime, and keeping the 
common people in their condition of poverty and degradation. He 
resolved to refrain entirely from their use, and to use his utmost in- 
fluence to induce others to do likewise. He founded the Congres- 
sional Temperance Society, and by its agency succeeded in saving 
more than one man of genius from degradation and ruin. 

In 1868 Mr. Wilson became a member of the Congregational 
Church. He has given much of his time, talent, and money in 
forwarding religious enterprises. The elements and traits of Chris- 
tian character which exist in him are not the products of a day, but 
the growth of years — are not ephemeral but enduring. 

Notwithstanding his cares aud labors in the field of politics, Mr. 
Wilson has accomplished more in literature than many who have 
made it a pursuit. He is the author of a " History of the Anti- 
slavery Measures of the Thirty-seventh and Thirty-eighth Con- 
gresses," and " History of the Reconstruction Measures of the Thirty- 
ninth Congress." His principal literary work is " The History of 
the Rise and Fall of the Slave Power in America," the first volume 
of which, recently published, has received the approval of the lead- 
ing critics in the country. 

In his personal character Mr. Wilson is without reproach. He 
possesses purity as stainless as when he entered politics, and integ- 
rity as unimpeachable as when first elected to office. He is one of 
the most practical of statesmen, and one of the most skillful of legis- 
lative tacticians. His forte is hard work — the simple and efficient 
means by which he has arisen from humble origin to his present 
high position. 








Yu4 





THOMAS M. BROWNE. 

By Hon. Jonathan "W. Gordon. 

~ENERAL THOMAS M. BROWNE, the Republican 
candidate for Governor of the State of Indiana, is a 
native of Ohio. He was born in the village of New 
Paris, in Preble County, April 19, 1830. , His father, 
John A. Browne, was a native of Bucks County, Pennsylvania, 
and his mother of Cane Ridge, Bourbon County, Kentucky. He 
remained with his parents, at New Paris, until the death of his 
mother, which occurred in 1843. That misfortune broke up his 
father's family, and he was apprenticed to Mr. Ralph M. Pomeroy, at 
that time a retail merchant in Spartansburg, Randolph County, 
Indiana. Leaving him there, his father removed to Grant County, 
Kentucky, where he died in the spring of the year 1865. 

The death of his mother, which cast him at so early an age 
among strangers, was not wholly without its compensations. The 
rare capacity, energy, and probity that formed the basis of the char- 
acter of Mr. Pomeroy did not fail to impress themselves upon the 
mind, and ultimately upon the life, of young Browne. In his capac- 
ity of general utility-boy about the store of Mr. Pomeroy he learned 
the rudiments of business — attention, method, energy, dispatch, 
and strict adherence to truth and honesty in all that he said and 
did. He learned more. He was brought into daily contact and 
communication with the people, and acquired a thorough knowl- 
edge of their modes of thought and action, which has been of in- 
finite advantage to him throughout his career as a professional and 
public man. Thoroughly impressed, from this early intercourse 
with the people, with the conviction of their general intelligence 
and honesty, he has endeavored to win their confidence by the ex- 
hibition of similar traits of character. His life has been faithfully 
devoted to acquiring an accurate knowledge of public affairs, and 



32 THOMAS M. BROWNE. 

no man has more earnestly endeavored to promote the right than 
he, regardless of what might for the time being be esteemed the 
expedient. 

He remained with Mr. Pomeroy, at Spartansbnrg, until the spring 
of 1848, when he went to Winchester and commenced the study of 
law in the office of the Hon. William A. Peelle. While engaged 
in his legal studies he attended, during one short session, the 
Eandolph County Seminary. This was his only opportunity to 
acquire an education, except his casual and brief attendance on the 
village schools before coming to Winchester. Such has been his 
faithfulness in improving the foundations thus laid, that few per- 
sons who have not been acquainted with his early life and oppor- 
tunities would ever be led to think from their intercourse with 
him, either in public or private life, that he had not enjoyed the 
advantages of a liberal education and thorough culture. His care- 
ful and laborious industry, good taste, and strong common sense 
have made him ample atonement for the lack of early opportunity 
and training. Few public men in the State now possess a wider 
or more thorough legal, political, or general knowledge than he, 
and none are master of a better style for setting it forth to others. 
He is at once a clear, forcible, and elegant writer, and as an orator 
has few equals, and perhaps no superior, in Indiana. 

He was admitted to the bar of the circuit and inferior courts of 
the State in August, 1849, and to that of the Supreme Court in 
May, 1851. When it is remembered that these advances were the 
results of his professional attainments ascertained by judicial ex- 
amination, and not, as at present, a constitutional right secured to 
every voter, it will be manifest that he had diligently improved his 
brief novitiate. Nor was the seal of popular approval wanting to 
these early achievements in his professional career. In August, 
1850, and before he was twenty-one years old, he was elected 
Prosecuting Attorney of Randolph County, in which position he 
served two years. After the adoption of the Constitution of 1851 
the office became co-extensive with the judicial circuits; and, 
in 1S55, he was elected Prosecuting Attorney of the thirteenth 



THOMAS M. BROWNE. 33 

Judicial Circuit. To this office lie was re-elected in 1857, and 
again in 1859, and during all the time he held it discharged its 
duties with marked ability and success. "When it is recollected 
that the bar of the circuit was at that time anions; the ablest of the 
State, this is, of itself, high praise. 

In the mean time, and even before his admission to the bar, he 
had married Miss Mary J. Austin, at New Paris, on the 18th of 
March, 1849. With her his home has been peaceful and happy. 
" The heart of her husband doth safely trust in her, so that he shall 
have no need of spoil." " In her tongue is the law of kindness." 

At the October election in 1862 he was elected to the Senate 
by the people of Randolph County, and took a leading part in its 
proceedings and debates during the ensuing session. His course 
and ability commanded the respect and confidence of the public, 
and won for him a reputation for fidelity to his principles and de- 
votion to his country even beyond the limits of the State. The 
correspondent of the " Cincinnati Gazette " thus describes him at 
this time : 

" Thomas M. Browne, Senator from Randolph, is a young man, 
well dressed, of sanguine complexion, an excellent speaker, and full 
of fun and irony. There is a vim about him that tells in a popular 
audience and brings down the house. Now a burst of eloquence 
surprises you, and now a streak of fun. At times a burst of indig- 
nation comes out that is startling. This young man will make his 
mark in our country yet." 

Immediately at the close of the session of 1863 he resigned his 
place as Senator, and entered with zeal and energy upon the graver 
and more trying duties of a soldier. He assisted in recruiting the 
Seventh Indiana Cavalry, was elected captain of Company B, and, 
before leaving the State for the field, was promoted to the rank of 
lieutenant-colonel. With his regiment he served in Western Ken- 
tucky, in Tennessee, Mississippi, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Texas. 
He was in the raids of Generals Grierson and Smith through Ten- 
nessee and Mississippi. In the battle of Guntown, Mississippi, on 
the 10th of June, 1864, his horse was shot under him, and he was 



34: TIIOMAS M. BROWNE. 

himself wounded. His commanding officer, by special order, com- 
mended both him and his command for gallant conduct in that 
action, and he was soon afterward promoted to the colonelcy of 
his regiment and received the rank of brigadier general by brevet, 
" for gallant and meritorious conduct," from the hand of President 
Lincoln. Advancing with, and often at the head of the column of 
law and liberty, he was at the close of the war in Texas, and 
during the winter of 1865-66, in command of the United States 
forces at Sherman, in the northern part of that State. In this posi- 
tion he was brought into frequent and interesting relations to the 
people of that section of the country, and while holding the reins 
of authority with firmness, did so with so much moderation, gentle- 
ness, and kindness, as to win "golden opinions from all sorts of 
people." His brief and limited administration there exemplified 
that " it is better far to rule by love than fear," and he returned 
to his home leaving in the "State of the lone star" many devoted 
friends among those whom he had lately met in the field as 
foes. 

Arriving at home he resumed the practice of his profession, and 
entered at once upon an extensive and profitable business. The 
people, always his friends, hastened to his support. But the state 
of the country, and of parties struggling for the ascendency in its 
government, would not suffer him to devote himself merely to his 
private affairs. He was soon drawn into politics again. The 
questions before the people were of such a character as to challenge 
the grave consideration of all thoughtful, patriotic men. He could 
not refuse them his most serious consideration. His fitness for their 
public discussion drew him to the platform, and from the fall of the 
Confederacy until the present moment he has been a consistent, 
firm, and zealous, but withal a moderate, supporter of the princi- 
ples, policy, and measures of the Republican party. In the great 
political contest of 1868 he was heard in almost every part of the 
State, and perhaps no public speaker left a more pleasing or en- 
during impression of himself upon the public mind than he. In 
this way, while simply performing in a conscientious way what he 



THOMAS M. BROWNE. 35 

conceived to be his duty, he achieved a wide and lasting popu- 
larity. 

Soon after the inauguration of President Grant he was appointed 
to the office of District Attorney of the United States for the Dis- 
trict of Indiana, a position which he still holds. He has filled this 
position with distinguished ability, and established a high reputa- 
tion throughout the State as a sound lawyer and able advocate. 
By his devotion to the duties of his office, and a methodical arrange- 
ment of them, he has greatly promoted the public service, and 
while maintaining the laws and authority of the Government, has 
saved much money to its treasury that would otherwise have been 
lost. 

It was while pursuing the even tenor of his way as a citizen and 
officer of the Government that some friend mentioned his name in 
connection with the office of Governor of Indiana, a distinction at 
which, the writer has reason to know, he never had aimed, and of 
which it may be doubted whether he had ever so much as thought. 
Once publicly mentioned for the place, it soon became apparent 
that he would be selected. The young men of his party every-where 
were for him, and, without effort on his part, he was chosen by 
the Republican State Convention of Indiana, on the second ballot, 
as its standard-bearer in the ensuing political contest over two of 
the ablest and most deservedly popular men in the State — Godlove 
S. Orth and General Ben. Harrison. It was a proud day for the 
lonely orphan who had been left among strangers without means 
or friends at the age of thirteen, when that great Convention — the 
greatest in many respects that ever assembled in the State — calle 
him to the front and placed in his hands the battled-scarred flag of 
union, of law, and of liberty, and made him its bearer, and the 
guardian in the coming strife of all its glorious memories, its un- 
dying hopes, and " its honor's stainless folds." As he came forward 
that vast assembly was swept by the spirit of the deepest enthusi- 
asm, and greeted him with cheers and shouts that sprung spon- 
taneously from the hearts and lips of thousands made one by the 
same inspiration. When the tumult had a little subsided he ad- 
dressed the Convention as follows : 

3 



36 THOMAS M. BROWNE. 

" Gentlemen of the Convention : To say that I am sincerely 
thankful for the honor you have this day conferred upon me — that 
I am proud of this generous expression of your confidence — is to 
express but feebly the emotions with which this occasion over- 
whelms me. To be nominated to a position of so much impor- 
tance and dignity is indeed most flattering to the ambition of a 
young man. 

" But I accept the work you have assigned me, conscious of its 
responsibilities, and with a determination of devoting to it what- 
ever of energy and ability I possess. I know, and I feel what I 
say, that you might have confided the cause to the keeping of safer 
and abler hands than mine, but I promise you zeal in the advocacy 
of Republican principles, and the strictest fidelity in the perform- 
ance of every duty. It shall be my aim, indeed, my highest ambi- 
tion, to merit the great compliment you have paid me, and if in 
the past by eating meat I have offended my brother, I will eat no 
more meat while the world standeth. 

" Gentlemen, we must redeem Indiana. We can do it, and we 
will. Let us forget the dissensions that weaken us, and the divi- 
sions that have crippled us ; let us forget our personal disappoint- 
ments, and let us enter into the contest inspired and animated by 
the glory of our past achievements, and with a determination to 
conquer in the coming contest. 

" If we make but a united light we can march right over the in- 
trenchments of the enemy to a glorious victory, for the Republican 
party can point with pride to the work of its hand. It has written 
history for eternity. It has done that which the statesmen and the 
philosophers of the past omitted to do. It has put God in the 
Constitution by recognizing the rights of his creature, man. ' For 
inasmuch as ye did it unto the least of these, my brethren, ye have 
done it unto me,' is the language of the divine Lawgiver. 

" Gentlemen, let us go into the canvass confident that victory 
will greet us. 

" I should be very glad to speak further to you, but I am ad- 
monished that there is other work for the Convention to do." 



GODLOYE S. OETH. 




'ODLOVE S. OETH is descended from a Moravian family 
which emigrated from one of the palatinates of the old Ger- 
man Empire to the colony of Pennsylvania about the year 
1725, under the auspices of the celebrated missionary, Count Zinzen- 
dorf. He was born near Lebanon, Pennsylvania, April 22, 1817. 
After receiving such education as was afforded by the schools of his 
neighborhood, he spent a few years in attendance at Pennsylvania 
College, located at Gettysburgh, in which village he subsequently 
studied law in the office of Hon. James Cooper, and was admitted to 
the bar in March, 1839. 

An inclination to mingle in the new scenes and activities of the 
growing West, led Mr. Orth in that direction, and he located in La- 
fayette, Indiana, which has ever since continued his home. Here he 
at once entered upon the practice of the law, and soon won for him- 
self a reputation for ability and eloquence that placed him in the front 
rank of his profession. 

His debut as a political speaker occurred during the famous Har- 
rison campaign of 1840, in which he took an active part. The effi- 
ciency of his labors in the campaign gave him political prominence 
among his neighbors, and in 1843 he was nominated by the Whigs 
of Tippecanoe County as their candidate for State Senator and was 
elected in the face of a Democratic majority in the county. Though 
the youngest, he was recognized as one of the ablest members of the 
Senate, and before the close of his term was elected its President by 
an almost unanimous vote. 

In February, 1846, he was nominated by the Whig State Conven- 
tion for Lieutenant Governor, which position he declined, and at the 
urgent request of his constituents, he consented to become a candi- 



38 GODLOVE S. ORTH. 

date for re-election to the Senate. He was again successful, and in 
1846 entered upon his second term of three years in the Senate. 
During this term he was assigned to the important position of chair- 
man of the Judiciary Committee. This position was conferred by 
the President of the Senate, who was a Democrat — a rare instance 
of such a compliment being conferred upon a political opponent. 

In 1848 he was a candidate for presidential elector, on the Taylor 
and Fillmore ticket, and as such stumped the northern half of Indi- 
ana. Upon the close of his second term in the Senate, he withdrew 
for a time from public life and devoted himself to the practice of his 
profession, at all times, however, taking a deep interest in current 
politics, and identifying himself with those who were battling against 
the encroachments of slavery. 

In 1861 he was one of the five commissioners appointed by Gov- 
ernor Morton to represent Indiana in the Peace Congress. His ex- 
perience in that body satisfied him of the hopelessness of any com- 
promise with a power which spurned all overtures except such as 
were dictated by the Southern delegates, many of whom were then 
plotting the destruction of the Government. 

On the return of Mr. Orth from the Peace Congress, his neighbors 
requested him to address a large meeting of his fellow-citizens on the 
absorbing question of the hour. He complied, and told them plainly 
that he regarded a conflict as inevitable, and advised them to prepare 
for the emergency. 

The outbreak of hostilities at Charleston soon followed, and from 
that time forth he was zealously committed to the cause of the Union 
and the suppression of the rebellion, lending all his influence to the 
support of the administration in its vigorous prosecution of the war. 

In the summer of 1862, the southern portion of Indiana being 
threatened with a rebel invasion, the Governor made a call for vol- 
unteers to meet the emergency. The same day (Sunday) on which 
this call was issued, it was responded to by a public meeting in La- 
fayette, at which Mr. Orth closed an eloquent appeal by placing his 
own name the first upon the roll of volunteers — an example which 



GODLOVE S. ORTH. 39 

was at ODce followed by about two hundred men, who elected him 
captain, and within twenty-four hours reported for duty at Indian- 
apolis. Mr. Orth was sent with his men to the Ohio River, and 
placed in command of the United States ram " Horner," on which he 
did duty, patrolling the river until his term of service expired. 

In October, 1862, he was elected a Representative in the Thirty- 
eighth Congress, his competitor being Hon. John Pettit, who had rep- 
resented the district for several years. On the organization of the 
House, Mr. Orth was assigned to duty on the Committee on Foreign 
Affairs, and the Committee on the Freedmen. It was during this 
Congress that the latter committee matured and reported the several 
measures of legislation in reference to that large class of people whom 
the war was daily transferring from slavery to freedom. Mr. Orth 
was identified with them as well as with the other new and reforma- 
tory measures of the Republican party. By his intelligent compre- 
hension of the great questions cast upon Congress, and by his able 
exposition of them at various times on the floor, he obtained high 
standing and commanding influence among his fellow-members. 

As a member of the Thirty-eighth Congress Mr. Orth had the en- 
viable opportunity of placing his name on the roll with those who voted 
for the memorable amendment abolishing slavery. While this amend- 
ment was under discussion, he advocated its adoption in a speech of 
much force and eloquence, predicting the future greatness of the Re- 
public, which should culminate in " the American flag floating over 
every foot of this continent, and the American Constitution' protect- 
ing every human being on its soil." 

In October, 1864, Mr. Orth was elected to the Thirty-ninth Con- 
gress. The prominent measure of this Congress was the Fourteenth 
Amendment to the Constitution, which was proposed to the different 
States for ratification, and this, more largely than any other, entered 
into the political canvass of 1866. The defection of President John- 
son and the consequent dissensions in the Republican party, made 
the campaign of 1866 more than usually important and exciting. 
The opposition felt much encouraged, and expected to carry enough 



40 GODLOVE S. ORTH. 

of the doubtful Congressional Districts to give them control of the 
lower house of the ensuing Congress. Mr. Orth was unanimously 
nominated for re-election, and his district, always close and hotly 
contested, was now regarded as one which might be carried by the 
opposition. To effect this, all the elements of opposition, personal 
and political, were combined against him. The Democrats declined 
to make any nomination, and united with the " Johnsonized " Repub- 
licans in support of an " independent " candidate. The alliance had 
at its command large sums of money which was most liberally used ; 
it controlled the entire federal patronage of the district, and subordi- 
nated every other interest for the sole purpose of ensuring his defeat, 
but in vain. He was sustained by his constituents, and although 
elected by a reduced majority, the result was everywhere regarded 
as a splendid triumph for Mr. Orth.. 

In the Fortieth Congress to which he was thus elected, Mr. Orth 
followed to their logical conclusions the several measures already 
inaugurated by the Republican party. 

In 1868 he was again re-elected to Congress — 'the fourth time he 
was thus honored by his constituents. The honor was the more dis- 
tinguished from the fact that never before in his district had any one 
received so many successive elections to Congress. 

In the Fortieth Congress Mr. Orth introduced a series of resolutions 
in reference to the annexation of San Domingo, and on the 5th of 
April, 1869, made a speech in favor of their adoption, in which he 
maintained that territorial extension " strengthens our government, 
increases our wealth, and adds to our power and grandeur." 
When the death of Thaddeus Stevens was announced in the House 
of Representatives, Mr. Orth delivered one of the most eloquent 
eulogies pronounced on that occasion, closing with the words : 

" In all the coming years of time, so long as patriotism has a 
votary and freedom an advocate, his fame will be cherished, and 
while his countrymen linger around his consecrated grave their 
aspirations will ascend to Heaven that a kind Providence may- 
grant to our beloved country many more such men." 



GODLOVE S. ORTH. 41 

In the Forty-first Congress Mr. Orth retained his position on 
the Committee on Foreign Affairs and as Chairman of the Com- 
mittee on Private Land Claims. 

Soon after the organization of this Congress the Committee on 
Foreign Affairs was charged by the House with the investigation 
of our " troubles in Paraguay," and Mr. Orth was appointed 
Chairman of the Sub-Committee to whom the subject was referred. 
After thorough and laborious investigation, Mr. Orth, on behalf of 
a majority of the Committee, submitted a voluminous report to the 
House, and after full discussion the House sustained the report, 
ordered Admirals Davis and Godon to be tried by Naval Court- 
Martial, and approved the course of the President and of Minister 
Washburne. 

The question of the recognition of "belligerency" in Cuba 
attracted at this time to a considerable extent the attention of the 
country and of Congress. The Committee on Foreign Affairs, to 
whom the subject was referred, was divided upon the course to be 
adopted by our Government, and Mr. Orth, on behalf of a minor- 
ity of the Committee, presented a report which was sustained by 
the House. During the discussion which ensued Mr. Orth said : 

I yield to no gentleman on the floor of this House in expressions of sympathy 
for any people who, suffering from oppression, are fighting for independence. 
It is an American sentiment that all men should be free. These generous 
impulses are part of our nature ; they are among the earliest impressions of our 
childhood ; we receive them in lineal descent from our Revolutionary ancestors ; 
they are the proud heiitage of every American. But personal sympathy must 
not be permitted to influence official action in derogation of the just rights of 
others. If my sympathy could give the Cubans independence and separate 
nationality they should have it before the going down of the sun. But, sir, 
when I am asked to entangle the Government in a controversy in which we have 
every thing to lose and nothing to gain, I cannot do it, I dare not do it, and I 
have the fullest confidence that this House will not do it. 

General Sehenck, Chairman of the Committee of Ways and 
Means, having resigned his seat in Congress to accept the appoint- 
ment of Minister to England, Mr. Orth was appointed a member 
of that Committee, and served as such to the end of this Congress. 



WILLIAM WILLIAMS. 




! ILLIAM WILLIAMS was born in Pennsylvania, near 
Carlisle, May 11, 1821. When thirteen years old, his 
father with his family removed to Ohio, and thence, two 
years afterwards, to Kosciusco County, Indiana. His educational 
advantages were but slender, he having access only to common 
schools, which, especially in Indiana, at that time were very defective. 
Yet his ambition to improve the privileges which he had, added to 
his indomitable perseverance and severe application, more than coun- 
terbalanced his lack of school advantages and helped him to become 
respectable in scholarship. 

In his seventeenth year he commenced by himself the study of 
law, and two years afterwards passed a severe examination and was 
admitted to the bar. He immediately commenced the practice of 
his profession in Warsaw, Indiana, w r hich has since continued as his 
home. Almost simultaneously with entering upon law practice, he 
began to participate in political affairs, and, pending the presidential 
campaign of 1810, he entered the contest in behalf of the Whig can- 
didate with all the ardor and enthusiasm of youth, and by his speeches 
in numerous places, began to acquire an enviable reputation as a 
public speaker. Tims matters proceeded during several succeeding 
years, wherein the subject of our sketch was employing himself dili- 
gently in professional labors. In the campaigns of 1811 and 1818 he 
distinguished himself by his enthusiastic and able speeches in various 
portions of the State. During the latter campaign, he was nomin- 
ated and elected county-treasurer, and continued to sustain this office 
until 1852. In the canvass of this }ear for Governor and Lieut-Gover- 
nor, Mr. Williams was pitted against Ashbel P. Willard as a candi- 



WILLIAM WILLIAMS. 48 

date for the latter office. The State had long been Democratic, while 
Mr. Willard, the rival candidate, was the idol of his party, and pos- 
sessed many personal advantages. A joint canvas's was determined 
on by the two champions, which was prosecuted with great enthusi- 
asm ; and although Mr. "Williams was defeated, yet his vote ex- 
ceeded that of his colleague, the "Whig candidate for governor, by 
about five thousand. 

This remarkable canvass having passed, Mr. Williams seems to 
have given much attention to mercantile pursuits, and railroad op- 
erations, most of which proved prosperous. As the war of the 
Rebellion came on he, with his characteristic activity, embarked in 
the cause of the Union. He was commissioned by Governor Morton 
with the rank of colonel, and placed in command of Camp Allen at 
Fort "Wayne. "Within thirty days, by his impassioned and eloquent 
speeches he succeeded in raising, arming, and equipping three full 
regiments of infantry, which were at once despatched to the field. 
No other instance of such celerity in rallying and equipping troops 
occurred in the "West during the war. In June, 1863, he joined 
Sherman's army in the South-west, continuing with it for more than 
two years, when he was honorably mustered out of the service. 

The great popularity of Col. "Williams, joined with his well-known 
ability as a debater, very naturally designated him as a candidate for 
Congress ; and in the spring of 1866 he was nominated by the 
Republicans of the Tenth District of Indiana, and elected. In the 
Fortieth Congress, he was made chairman of the Committee on 
Expenditures of the "War Department, and served on two or three 
other important committees. He introduced a bill exempting manu- 
facturing establishments, where gross receipts were less than five 
thousand dollars, from the Internal Revenue Tax, which was referred 
to the Committee of Ways and Means, and incorporated in the gen- 
eral bill as reported by them. He delivered a speech entitled 
"Democracy Exposed and Republicanism Vindicated," of which 
thirty thousand copies were subscribed for and distributed through- 
out the country. 



44 WILLIAM WILLIAMS. 

In the Forty-first Congress Mr. Williams was a member of the 
Committee on the District of Columbia, and Chairman of the Com- 
mittee on Expenditures in the War Department. On the 20th. of 
December he introduced a resolution — 

That the Judiciary Committee be instructed to inquire into the constitutional 
power of Congress to legislate or to enact such laws as shall protect the great 
agricultural and other producing interests of the West, by limiting the rates of 
tariff on such productions from the West to the sea-board where said railways 
extend through two or more States, and to report the result of such inquiry to 
this House for further action. 

On the 29th of January following he made an elaborate speech, 
citing judicial decisions, in support of " the constitutional power of 
Congress to regulate the interstate commerce of the country." 
One of the great railroad monopolies of the country is thus held 
up to view : 

Mr. Speaker, in sight of your own capital is a practical solution of the effect 
of this doctrine that the Constitution, by reason of the right of eminent domain 
in the States, cannot charter or incorporate arteries of trade through and over 
which the commerce of the nation may pass. I mean the Baltimore and Ohio 
Railroad — a monopoly without soul, body, or parts purely spiritual. See this 
mighty monopoly, which has grown rich and impudent over the spoils stolen 
from the visitors and business men of the States who come here to legislate for 
your country or pay a visit to the tomb of Washington. Sir, at the city of 
Baltimore the traveler is met with the tax-gatherer of this monster monopoly, 
and he does not give you time to ask the question, " Is it lawful to pay tribute 
to Cesar?" but says, "Your thirty cents, sir, into the treasury-box of Garrett, or 
you shall not behold the capital of the nation." The tax-gatherer who stands 
in the great highway to the nation's capital is a man of extensive rotundity and 
brazen effrontery, and his name, as I have indicated, is Garrett. He says to 
every citizen, " You must pay thirty cents into my coffers or you cannot go to 
Washington." I fancy as he complacently places the proceeds of this larceny 
in his pocket I hear it sing as it reaches its destination at the bottom, "Fare- 
well, vain world ; I am going home." [Laughter.] 

That railroad corporation cannot do even as the publican. It does not even 
come before Congress and say " Have mercy on me, a sinner ;" but, like the Phar- 
isee, it stands in the temple and says, " I thank God I am not as others are ; I 
have received $3,000,000 capitation tax from the people, and paid not one cent 
to the General Government." And it is not like any other corporation in the 
country, for it was the only corporation in the country that refused to commute 
the fare of the soldiers who came patriotically to defend the Government, and 
to save even that road itself from destruction. Like Shylock, it always clam- 
ored for its pound of flesh, even when the country was bleeding at every pore. 



JOEDN t. C. SHARKS. 




J OHN P. C. SHANKS was bora at Martinsburg, Virginia, 
June IT, 1826. His paternal ancestors came from Ireland. 
His grandfather, Joseph Shanks, entered the Continental 
army immediately after the battle of Lexington, and served through 
the Eevolution, participating in the battle of Yorktown. His father, 
Michael Shanks, was a soldier in the war of 1812, and an elder 
brother served through the Mexican war. 

His father left the State of Virginia in 1839, on account of opposi- 
tion to slavery, and settled in the wilderness of Jay County, Indiana. 
The subject of this sketch had few advantages of schools, either in 
Virginia or in his forest home in the west. His parents being in lim- 
ited circumstances, struggling to make a home in a new country, 
their son participated in their labors, hardships, and privations. From 
his fifteenth to his seventeenth year he suffered intensely from an at- 
tack of rheumatism, much of his time being helpless, and while in 
this condition studied industriously under his father, who was a good 
scholar. Regaining his health, he pursued his studies during all the 
waking hours which were not occupied with the severest manual 
labor. He studied by fire-light at home, and by camp-fires in the 
woods. He read in the highway while driving his team, and carried 
his book when he plowed. He worked at the carpenter's trade in 
Michigan to earn money with which to pursue the study of law. In 
1847 he commenced the study of law in his own county, working 
for his board, and devoting every third week of his time to labor for 
his father on the farm. 

He was admitted to practise law in 1850, and during that year 
was acting auditor of his county. In the autumn following he was 



46 JOHN P. C. SHANKS. 

elected prosecuting attorney of the Circuit Court by the unanimous 
vote of both political parties. 

Upon his entrance upon the field of politics he was a Whig, and 
as such he was elected to the Legislature of Indiana in 1853. Two 
years later, the liquor question being an element in politics, he was 
defeated as an advocate of legal prohibition. 

In 1860 he was elected a Representative from Indiana to the 
Thirty-seventh Congress, and took his seat July 4, 1861, when Con- 
gress was assembled by proclamation of President Lincoln to take 
measures for the prosecution of the war. He voluntarily fought in 
the first battle of Bull Run, July 21, 1861, and by great efforts suc- 
ceeded in rallying a portion of the fugitives from the ill-fated field. 

For his conduct in that battle Mr. Shanks was appointed briga- 
dier-general by Mr. Lincoln, but declined, as he told the President, 
because " Bull Run demonstrated that promotions should be withheld 
until men proved themselves competent to command." He accepted 
an appointment on the staff of General Fremont, and served with 
him in Missouri. When that officer was relieved, Mr. Shanks re- 
mained with his successor, General Hunter, until the reassembling 
of Congress. 

On the 20th of December, 1861, Mr Shanks offered the following 
important resolution in the House of Representatives : 

Resolved, That the constitutional power to return fugitive slaves to their masters 
rests solely with the civil department of the government ; and that the order of the 
Secretary of War, under date of December 6, 1861, to General Wool, for the deliv- 
ery of a slave to Mr. Jessup, of Maryland, as well as all other military orders for 
the return of slaves, are assumptions of the military power over the civil law and 
the rights of the slave. 

This resolution, the first Congressional action against the return of 
slaves, was referred to the Judiciary Committee, and, eventually, in 
substance, was made an article of war. On the 4th of March, 1862, 
in a speech in Congress, Mr. Shanks vindicated General Fremont, 
and upheld his proclamation giving freedom to the slaves of rebels. 
At the close of that session of Congress he again served on General 
Fremont's staff, in his West Virginia campaign. 



JOHN P. C. SHANKS. 47 

In the summer of 1863, Mr. Shanks raised the Seventh Indiana 
Regiment of volunteer cavalry, and on the 6th of December, was 
ordered with them from Indianapolis to the field. In the following 
February, he was breveted a brigadier-general for meritorious con- 
duct. Having given efficient service until some time after the sur- 
render of Lee and Johnston, he was mustered out in September, 1865, 
at Hempstead, Texas. He was breveted a major-general by the 
recommendation of Hon. E. M. Stanton, Secretary of War, as a matter 
of justice which he declared to be due so meritorious an officer. 

In 1866, Mr. Shanks was elected to the Fortieth Congress, during 
which he served on the Committees on the Militia and Indian 
Affairs. Soon after taking his seat, he introduced a resolution pro- 
viding for the appointment of a committee of five to investigate the 
treatment of Union prisoners. He was made chairman of the com- 
mittee thus provided for, and, after long and patient investigation, 
made an elaborate report, which is an important contribution to the 
history of the rebellion. Subsequently he delivered an address 
upon this subject before the Grand Army of the Republic full of 
valuable and interesting statistics. In this speech he said : 

" I hope that the high moral, political, and military position of our 
people will enable our government to procure the adoption in the 
laws of nations of a provision that captives in war shall not be 
personally retained as prisoners ; but shall, under flags of truce, be 
returned at the earliest possible time to their own lines o: vessels, 
and paroled until properly exchanged, so that the books of the com- 
missioners of exchange of the respective belligerents shall determine 
the relative advantages in captives, and thus the horrors and sacri- 
fices of prison-life be prevented." 

On the 26th of March, 1867, Mr. Shanks introduced a resolution 
instructing the Committee on Foreign Affairs to investigate the cause 
of the imprisonment for life of Rev. John McMahon, and what 
measures, if any, should be taken for his release. On the 9th of 
January following, the committee having made a report requesting 
the President to intercede with the Queen of Great Britain for the 



48 JOHN P. C. SHANKS. 

speedy release of the prisoner, Mr. Shanks made an eloquent speech 
in support of the resolution, conclusively arguing the duty of our 
government to maintain the right of expatriation. He spoke in 
favor of the impeachment, and advocated the bill to declare forfeited 
the lands granted to certain Southern railroads. He spoke against 
the treaty by which the Osage Indian lands were allowed to be con- 
veyed to a corporation, to the detriment of actual settlers. In a 
speech on the suffrage amendment, he declared his opinion that an 
act of Congress would be sufficient to effect the object. " I have long 
thought," said he, " that it was not only in the power, but in the 
duty of Congress to protect the right of the elective franchise to all 
the people against any attempt by State or local legislation, or by 
force or fraud, to curtail, embarrass, or defeat its full and equal enjoy- 
ment by all adult citizens." 

On the 9th of December, 1868, Mr. Shanks introduced a resolu- 
tion, " That it is the duty of the government of the United States to 
acknowledge the existence of the provisional government of Crete aa 
an independent political state, and to treat with it as such." On the 
7th of January following, he advocated this resolution in an able and 
eloquent speech, for which he received the thanks of the Greek and 
Cretan governments. 

He made an elaborate speech showing that the Union Pacific 
Railroad was not constructed according to law. He introduced a 
bill to distribute the number and rank of government employees 
among the several districts and territories. In a speech advocating 
the measure, he showed the inequalities that existed in the distribu- 
tion of the offices, maintaining that the matter was one of "very 
great importance to the people of the country, because from these 
offices, if equally represented from the various districts and ter- 
ritories, employees would go out to and correspond with the people of 
the different parts of the country, giving information touching what 
is going on in the departments and in the capital, thus keeping up 
a healthy channel of communication between the government and 
people, as valuable and faithful as though it went out from this House." 



JOHN P. C. SHANKS. 



49 



In the Forty-first Congress Mr. Shanks was Chairman of the 
Committee on the Militia, and a member of the Committee on 
Indian Affairs and on Freedmen's Affairs. Offering an amend- 
ment to a bill reported by Mr. Logan, to provide for furnishing 
artificial limbs to disabled soldiers, Mr. Shanks presented the fol- 
lowing interesting facts : 

I have obtained from the Commissioner of Pensions a statement showing the 
number of persons who would be entitled to receive assistance under my sub- 
stitute. There are 5,006 who have lost one arm, 33 have lost both arms, 4,627 
have lost one leg, 42 have lost both legs, 21 have lost an arm and a leg, 2,516 
have been afflicted with hernia, caused by service in the army, making a total 
of 12,245 persons who would be recipients under the substitute I have offered. 
I have offered this substitute from the Committee on the Militia for the bill 
reported from the Committee on Military Affairs for this reason especially. It 
will be recollected by the House that since the close of the war the War De- 
partment furnished artificial limbs to soldiers. It has not yet been five years, 
still you can hardly find in this country any person who now has an artificial 
limb so furnished to him. There is in the bill a proposition to pay these sol- 
diers in money, which would be well enough, but I think that is not what the 
Government desires. I think what the Government should desire to do is to 
place these persons as nearly as possible in the condition they were in before 
the war, at least to furnish them whenever necessary with artificial limbs free 
of expense. 

During the discussion of the bill to reduce the number of officers 
in the army Mr. Shanks submitted the following significant inter- 
rogatories : 

I would like to ask the gentleman from Pennsylvania whether he thinks it is 
any more unjust to muster out these officers than to muster out the colonels 
and captains and lieutenants who periled their lives bravely upon many a 
stricken battle-field in behalf of the people ? We mustered out all those offi- 
cers because the country did not need their services any further, and I have 
heard no good reason advanced why we should retain these officers when their 
services are no longer needed. Why did not the gentleman manifest his oppo- 
sition when it was proposed to muster out all those subordinate officers ? Why 
did he not manifest his affection then for those who served the country ? 

As a member of the Committee on Indian Affairs Mr. Shanks 
prepared a very elaborate report on the " Cherokee Neutral Lands 
in Kansas." This report embraces some fifty pages of printed mat- 
ter, and fully sets forth the history of the title to the Cherokee 



50 JOHN P. C. SHANKS. 

Neutral Lands, and their " illegal and unjustifiable " transfer, to 
the prejudice of the interests of the United States and numerous 
settlers upon the lands. One of the most important conclusions 
arrived at in this report was that Congress " possesses the sole 
power to dispose of the public lands," which is fully developed in 
the following extract : 

Under monarchical governments concerned in discoveries in America such 
tracts of the country as the different nations laid claim to were held as the 
" property of the Crown." Grants or sales made by the Crown to other nations 
or to individuals passed the absolute title to the soil. In some cases, however, 
the title was retained in the Crown, and large tracts were leased by the Crown 
to companies or to private persons, as in the case of Georgia and some others. 

But under our republican form of government " the territory and other prop- 
erty belonging to the United States " is practically the property of the people. 
The Congress has from the foundation of our Government been regarded by the 
people as the guardian of the political and personal rights of the people, and as 
the custodian of the material interests of the nation. The framers of the Con- 
stitution, and the Conventions whose votes made it the fundamental law of the 
land, carefully provided (article 1, section 9) that " no money shall be drawn 
from the treasury but in consequence of appropriations made by law ;" and 
(article 1, section 7) that " all bills for raising revenues shall originate in the 
House of Representatives." 

Thus not only was the control of the purse of the nation placed in the hands 
of " Congress," but the people, jealous of the branch of that body least directly 
responsible to the people, placed that control very much more in the hands of 
their most direct agents, the members of the House of Representatives. 

No proposition to remove money from the pockets of the citizens directly or 
indirectly, and place it in the public treasury, can be constitutionally originated 
except by the lower House, and no money can constitutionally be removed from 
the public treasury for any purpose whatever without the concurrence of both 
Houses of Congress. Your committee insist that the power of " Congress " over 
the " territory " to which the United States holds the absolute, ultimate fee- 
simple title, and which has been shown, by quotations from the highest possible 
authorities on the subject, to include lands occupied by Indians as well as 
public lands not so occupied, is a power vested solely and exclusively in that 
department of our Government which is composed of the " Senate and House 
of Representatives," and that neither branch of Congress, acting separately, or 
in conjunction with any other department or officer of our Government, can by 
any process, direct or indirect, "dispose of" any portion of such "territory," in 
any way or manner whatever, without the express concurrence of the other 
branch of " Congress." 

The langMage of the Constitution is very plain on this subject. . . . Repeated 
decisions of the highest judicial tribunal of the land have defined the character 
of that power beyond a possible doubt. 







77'UUtr^ U^/Q^t^ 






MOETOK C. HimTEK. 




'ORTON C. HUNTER was torn at Yersailles, Indiana, 
February 5, 1825. He was educated at the Indiana Uni- 
jj^jr*^ versity, and in 1847 graduated in the Law Department. 
On the 26th of September, 1848, he was married to Miss Martha A. 
La Bertew, and soon after located in Bloomington for the practice of 
law. He immediately took a leading position among the members of 
the Bloomington bar, which in ability has always ranked as one of the 
foremost in the State. In politics he was a Whig, and cast his first 
vote for General Taylor for President in 1848. After the disintegra- 
tion of the Whig party he attached himself to the Republican organ- 
ization, and has since been a bold and successful advocate of its prin- 
ciples. 

In 1858 he was the Republican candidate for representative in the 
State legislature, and was elected by over three hundred majority 
in a county which had always been relied upon as strongly Demo- 
cratic. He was a leading member of the legislature, and gave shape 
to much of its most important legislation. In 1860 he was the Lin- 
coln elector for the Third District, which, after a thorough canvass, 
was carried for the Republicans by a large majority. In 1861 he 
was appointed by Governor Morton, brigadier-general of the fifth 
military district of Indiana, and for the purpose of organizing the 
militia therein he spent three months in canvassing the counties, 
neither charging nor receiving anything for pay or expenses. 

On the 19th of August, 1862, he was put in command of the mili- 
tary camp at Madison for the purpose of raising the 82d Indiana 
Regiment. He was commissioned colonel, and on the first of Septem- 
ber landed at Louisville, Kentucky, with his regiment fully armed and 

equipped. The regiment was placed in a brigade under command 

4 



52 MORTON C. HUNTER. 

of General Burbridge, and remained in the vicinity of Louisville just 
one month, marching from point to point to resist the Rebel General 
Kirby Smith who was then threatening the city. Subsequently Col. 
Hunter's regiment, as apart of the army under General Buell, marched 
through Kentucky in pursuit of Bragg's forces, and was at the battle 
of Perrysville. It took part in the battle of Stone River, in the fight 
at Hoover's Gap, and in the Tullahoma campaign which drove Gen- 
eral Bragg and his forces across the Cumberland River. The regi- 
ment next participated in the battle of Chickamauga. It was the 
first regiment that took position upon the memorable hill, the hold- 
ing of which in that battle saved the Union army. It was also in 
the fight at Brown's Ferry, which broke the rebel lines and opened 
communication by the Cumberland River with our army at Chatta- 
nooga, then in an almost starving condition. It was next in the 
storming of Mission Ridge, and, on the 2oth of February, 1863, was 
in the fight at Rocky-Face Ridge in which its lieutenant-colonel, Paul 
E. Slocum, was killed. 

On the 7th of May following, the regiment marched with the grand 
army under Major-General Sherman, and shared all the hardships, 
battles, and successes of the memorable campaign which won Atlanta, 
the great rebel stronghold of the south-west. At Atlanta Colonel 
Hunter took command of the 1st Brigade, 3d Division of the 14th 
Army Corps, and commanded it until the close of the war. He 
joined in Sherman's grand march to the sea, and in the arduous 
campaign through the Carolinas by way of Richmond to the national 
capital. He participated in the grand review at Washington on 
the 25th of May, 1865, after the surrender of the rebel armies. He 
was breveted brigadier-general for meritorious services. During 
the three years he was in the army he was away from his command 
but once, and that only for fourteen days to visit a sick member of 
his family. His command was always in the front when the fighting 
was done, never performing garrison or guard duty in the rear. 

In 1866 Mr. Hunter was the Republican candidate for Congress 
in the Third District of Indiana, and was elected by a majority of 



MORTON C. HUNTER. 53 

096 votes, notwithstanding a heavy importation against him, his dis- 
trict bordering on Kentucky, and lying between the Second and 
Fourth Districts both of which were strongly Democratic. 

As a member of the Fortieth Congress, Mr. Hunter performed 
valuable service for his constituents and the country. On the 18th 
of December, 1867, he introduced an elaborate and carefully pre- 
pared bill " To provide internal revenue, to support the government, 
to pay interest on the public debt, and for other purposes," the great 
object of which was to relieve the industrial interests of the country 
from internal tax, and to place the same on luxuries and- the wealth 
of the country. This bill was referred to the Committee on Ways 
and Means, who subsequently reported 6ome of its material features 
in " a bill abolishing the tax on manufactures," and " a bill abolish- 
ing bonded warehouses," both of which were passed. He also in- 
troduced a bill " to fund the national debt, and for other purposes," 
which was referred to the same committee. A bill " to tax green- 
backs, and other national currency, by the States in like manner as 
other personal property " introduced by him was referred to the Com- 
mittee on Banking and Currency, the substance of which was re- 
ported upon favorably and is now the law. He was also the author 
of a bill granting pensions to the soldiers of 1812, and a certain class 
of soldiers of the Mexican war. He made but few speeches, but in 
these evinced profound thought and extensive research. His speech 
on finance was regarded as one of the ablest made on that subject. 

He is a man of fine physical development, being six feet in height 
and well proportioned. He is strictly temperate, never having used 
spirituous liquors nor tobacco in any form. Of excellent attainments, 
sound judgment, and untiring industry, he has fulfilled every public 
duty with honor to himself and satisfaction to his friends. 



JASPEE PACKARD. 




^ASPER PACKARD was born in Trumbull (now Mahon 
ing) County, Ohio, February 1, 1832. His father was a 
hard-working farmer of that locality, who with his wife 
came from Western Pennsylvania and carved a home out 
of the wilderness. The subject of this sketch was the youngest of 
twelve children, and when but three years of age his parents moved 
to Indiana, settling again in the wilderness, again to make a home 
by hard and rugged labor. At that time there were few neighbors 
except Indians, and facilities for education were meager and im- 
perfect, but they were eagerly sought, and the usual alternation 
was kept up of three months' school in the winter and labor on the 
farm in the milder seasons. At the age of eighteen his father died, 
and the boy was thrown upon his own resources. Determining to 
secure an education, he labored in the harvest-field in summer and 
taught school in winter, keeping even with his classes in college. 
One year of his course of study was passed at Oberlin, Ohio, after 
which he entered Michigan University, and graduated in 1855. 
Marrying the same year, he engaged in teaching, together with his 
wife, whose companionship and helping hand were to him invalua- 
ble. He edited the La Porte Union during a part of 1859 and 
1860, and having studied law he was admitted to the bar, and had 
just commenced the practice of his profession when the war of the 
Rebellion called him away from his chosen pursuit. Enlisting 
early as a private in the Forty-eighth Indiana Volunteers he was 
soon made First Lieutenant of his company. After the battles of 
Iuka and Corinth he was promoted to the captaincy of another 
company in the same regiment, which he commanded in the Ticks- 








HI 



JASPER PACKARD. 55 

burg campaign and the battles at Chattanooga. At the attack on 
the fortifications of Yicksburg on the 22d of May, 1863, he was 
severely wounded in the face and was off duty for two months, 
the only time he lost during four years and a half of military 
service. 

Early in 1864 he was commissioned Lieutenant-Colonel of the 
One hundred and twenty-eighth Indiana Yolunteers, which regi- 
ment he commanded during the Atlanta campaign, the campaign 
against Hood in Tennessee, and in the operations of Schofield's com- 
mand in North Carolina, being further promoted to Colonel and 
brevetted Brigadier-General. His regiment was the last of the 
Indiana troops to be mustered out of the service, being on duty in 
North Carolina until April, 1866. 

Prior to his return home his friends had suggested his name as 
County Auditor, to which office he was elected in the ensuing 
October. At the State Convention in February, 1868, Mr. Pack- 
ard was appointed Presidential Elector for the Eleventh Indiana 
District, and he was prominently mentioned as a Republican can- 
didate for Congress in case Mr. Colfax should be nominated for 
Yice-President. This contingency occurring, Mr. Packard received 
the nomination for Congress, and engaged at once with untiring 
industry in the canvass. He spoke one hundred and six times in 
three months, and received a majority of twelve hundred and 
twenty-one, although the majority in the whole State was less than 
one thousand, the majority in the district two years before being 
something over two thousand, with a State majority of fourteen 
thousand. 

He was nominated for the Forty-second Congress almost by 
acclamation, and worked through the campaign with an earnest- 
ness and energy which did not permit apathy to endanger the 
success of the Republican ticket. He spoke eighty-five times in 
two months, and visited every neighborhood in an unusually large 
district. The fruit of this exertion was a majority four hundred 
greater in the district than in 1868, although the Democrats gained 
in the State thirty-five hundred. 



56 



JASPER PACKARD. 



Taking his seat as a Representative from Indiana in the Forty- 
first Congress, Mr. Packard was appointed a member of the Com- 
mittee on Military Affairs. His course has been characterized by 
quiet industry and strict attention to the duties of his position. 
The following extract from a newspaper communication, written in 
May, 1870, correctly presents his course as a Representative : 

" Since he has taken his seat as a member of the Forty-first 
Congress the same remarkable success has followed him, until it is 
conceded that no new member has made a brighter record than he. 
He is true to his party ; is always at his post ; he never misses a 
meeting of his Committee ; his name is recorded on every ballot ; 
he is prompt to answer every correspondent ; and attentive to every 
request, in season and out of season. Now securing an appropri- 
ation for our Michigan City harbor, then urging through a pension 
claim for a poor disabled soldier ; now speaking with earnest and 
eloquent words for the Republican Party, then securing the 
establishment of a new post-office for the accommodation of the 
people ; now presenting to the House a most convincing argument 
for the reduction of taxation, and always carefully attending to 
every duty imposed on him by the House, his Committees, the 
Departments, and his correspondents." 

Mr. Packard has seldom spoken in the House, except on matters 
which came from his Committee, and then briefly and to the point. 
His political record is one of consistent adherence to the Republi- 
can party. He cast his first vote for its first candidate for Presi- 
dent, and has since stood firmly by its leading members, because he 
believed them to be right. His most elaborate speech in the For- 
ty-first Congress was entitled, " The Republican Party, its Present 
Duties and Past Achievements, and Democratic Repudiation." 
" I have faith in the American people," he said in this speech, 
" and I should not dare to look my constituents in the face if I 
did not indignantly deny for them the charge that they are willing 
to repudiate one dollar of what they justly owe. I will not impute 
to them, or permit others to impute to them, such amazing dis- 
honesty." 



JOHST OOBUEN". 




'OHN COBURN was born at Indianapolis, Indiana, October 
27, 1825. His father was a native of Massachusetts, who 
settled in Indiana while it was yet a territory. The subject 
of this sketch enjoyed excellent advantages of early education in his 
native city, and subsequently attended Wabash College, where he 
graduated in 1846. He was employed a short time in the office of 
the clerk of the Supreme Court; studied law, and was admitted to 
the bar in 1850. During this and the following year he was a 
member of the State Legislature. Although one of the youngest 
members, and in the Whig minority, he took an active part in legis- 
lation. The Whigs in that Legislature voted in a body against 
resolutions approving the Clay Compromise of 1850 ; thus early 
showing themselves ready for the great Republican movement, in 
which some of them became leaders four years later. 

In 1856 Mr. Coburn was the Republican candidate for Congress, 
and conducted the canvass with such ability that his competitor, 
unable to answer his arguments, quit the stump soon after they had 
entered upon a series of joint discussions. Mr. Coburn received a 
much larger vote than the Republican candidates who were success- 
ful in the preceding and subsequent elections, but his opponent was 
declared elected, since it was vital to the success of the Buchanan 
presidential ticket in the State in November that the Central Con- 
gressional District should be carried for the Democrats in October. 

In 1853 Mr. Coburn engaged in the defense of Freeman, who, 
though never a slave, had been seized by a pretended owner from 
Kentucky under the Fugitive Slave Law. To find evidence for his 



58 JOHN COBURN. 

client, Mr. Coburn went twice to Kentucky and made two journeys 
into Canada, and by great exertions succeeded in releasing him from 
the grasp of the kidnapper. Sympathy with the slave was at that 
time unpopular in Indiana, and Mr. Coburn lost business by reason 
of his efforts for Freeman. In 1857 he was counsel for the defence 
in another celebrated fugitive slave case. These two important 
cases attracted the attention of the whole country, and had an influ- 
ence in consolidating a majority in Indiana against the slaveholders 
in 1860. 

In 1858 Mr. Coburn was elected judge of the Court of Common 
Pleas. Soon after the election of Mr. Lincoln, when the plans of the 
rebels began to appear, many Republicans in Indiana were ready to 
consent to a peaceful withdrawal of the Southern States, in order to 
prevent loss of property and life. At this juncture a large mass meet- 
ing was addressed by Judge Coburn and Hon. Jonathan W. Gordon, 
who counselled uncompromising adherence to the Union against the 
treason of secession, and thus a sentiment was promoted at the State 
capital which did much to direct Indiana upon the course in which 
the State gained enduring honor in the war. 

Soon after the breaking out of hostilities, Mr. Coburn entered the 
military service, and was commissioned colonel of the 33d Regiment 
of Indiana Volunteers. In September, 1861, he left Indianapolis with 
his command, and marching into Kentucky was immediately in the 
midst of active service. With his regiment he bore the brunt of the 
battle of Wildcat, and did most of the fighting by which Zollicoffer's 
force was repulsed. Officers and men bore themselves with great cool- 
ness and valor, although the} 7 had never before been under fire. Thus 
the first battle of the army of the Cumberland was mainly fought by 
Col. Coburn's regiment, and the first man who fell in defence of the 
Union in Kentucky was private MoFadden of his command. 

Col. Coburn was given command of a brigade, participated in the 
movements which resulted in the taking of Cumberland Gap ; took 
part in operations in Tennessee, and finally was taken prisoner, with 
four hundred of his command, at Thompson's Station, on the 5th of 



JOHN COBURK. 59 

March, 1863. Officers and men were treated with the utmost barbar- 
ity while on the way to Richmond, and after their incarceration in 
Libby Prison. " The iron-hearted monsters who had charge of the 
prisons," said Col. Coburn, in his report, " had no regard for suffering 
nor for human life." The prisoners were exchanged at City Point, 
Virginia, May 5, 1863, and were soon again in active service. 

During the spring and summer of 1864, Col. Coburn commanded a 
brigade in the great Atlanta campaign, participating with distin- 
guished honor in the battles at Resacca, New Hope Church, Golgotha 
Church, Culp's Farm, and Peach Tree Creek. 

On the 2d of September, 1864, the city of Atlanta was surrendered 
to Col. Coburn, who was met in the suburbs by the mayor, with a flag 
of truce. The officer who bore a prominent part in the first battle 
of the army of the Cumberland, had the honor to receive the sur- 
render of the last rebel stronghold in the West. His term of three 
years having expired, and the war in the West being virtually ended, 
he retired from the military service on the 25th of September, 1864. 

In March, 1865, he was appointed and confirmed Secretary of Mon- 
tana Territory, but declined the office. In the following October he 
was elected judge of the 5th Judicial Circuit of Indiana, an office 
which he accepted against his own inclinations, the duties of which, 
however, he performed in a manner highly satisfactory to a bar which 
is among the ablest in the United States. While upon the bench he 
was unanimously nominated by the Republicans as their candidate 
for Congress, and was elected in October, 1866. 

During the Fortieth Congress, Mr. Coburn was a member of the 
Committee on Public Expenditures and the Committee on Banking 
and Currency. At the short session of Congress, in July, 1867, he 
proposed an amendment to the Reconstruction acts, imposing penal- 
ties for offenses against the rights of voters in the late rebel States. 
This, if accepted, might have saved Congress the necessity of incor- 
porating similar provisions in an act to enforce the Fifteenth Amend- 
ment, which was passed so late as 1870. On the 2Sth of January, 
1868, he addressed the House on the subject of Southern railroad-, 



gO JOHN CO BURN. 

in which he was the first to advocate in Congress certain necessary 
restrictions upon land grants to railroads. In an able legal and his- 
torical argument on impeachment, he maintained that Mr. Johnson's 
" whole history as President has been marked with usurpations of 
power and violations of rights." In February, 1868, he supported by 
a speech the bill for the redistribution of the currency, and in Janu- 
ary, 1869, he delivered an elaborate and eloquent speech on Finance, 
in which he showed the importance of funding the national debt and 
the folly of attempting to resume specie payment by legislation. 
He also addressed the House in opposition to the bill " to strengthen 
the public credit," in which he maintained that our national credit, 
so far from needing " strengthening " by legislation was " good, and 
growing better every day." 



JAMES K TYJSTER 




^AMES N. TYNEE was born in Brookville, Indiana, 
January 17, 1826. His native town was earlier and better 
favored with educational facilities than most' other places 
in the States, and in one of its seminaries Mr. Tyner re- 
ceived an academic education. He studied law and engaged in 
the practice at Peru, a nourishing town on the Wabash and Erie 
Canal, and the terminus of one of the earliest railroads in the 
State. Mr. Tyner's first appearance in public life was as Secretary 
of the Indiana Senate, in which office he served for four consecutive 
sessions, commencing in 1857. He was a Presidential Elector in 
1860. During five years, commencing in 1861, he was special 
agent of the Post-Office Department. He was elected a Eep- 
resentative from Indiana to the Forty-first Congress, as a Eepub- 
lican, at a special election held to fill the vacancy occasioned by 
the election of Hon. D. D. Pratt to the United States Senate, 
receiving a majority of three thousand two hundred and seventy- 
six votes. He was re-elected to the Forty-second Congress by a 
majority of nineteen hundred and sixty-four votes. 

In the Forty-first Congress Mr. Tyner served on the Committee 
on the Post-Office and Post-Eoads, and the Committee on Educa- 
tion and Labor. His speeches in the House, though few, were 
careful in statements of fact, accurate in statistics, and sound in 
reasoning. His first speech in the House, delivered February 5, 
1870, on the Franking Privilege, was one Of the ablest arguments 
delivered on that question. He showed by carefully collated 
statistics that " the Postmaster-General had misled the people as to 
the co6t of the franking privilege," and yet he maintained that it 
ought to be abolished " because the people seem to demand it." 




LIVES 

OP 

GEN. ULYSSES S. GRANT 

AND 

HON. HENRY WILSON, 

TOGETHER WITH SKETCHES OF 

REPUBLICAN CANDIDATES FOR CONGRESS IN INDIANA. 



By WILLIAM HORATIO BARNES, 

AUTHOR OF "THE HISTORY OF CONGRESS." 



AND A SKETCH OP 

GENERAL THOMAS M. BROWNE, 

CANDIDATE FOR GOVERNOR OF INDIANA. 

By MAJOR JONATHAN W. GORDON. 



M\t\) $'m St«l |0rintits. 



NEW YORK: 
W. H. BARNES, PUBLISHER, 




3 7 PARK ROW. 

1872. 







j. »> > > 3R>>> > > > > 
3> >:>■>'» "> - X» *>» * 

»» ~> > 5> "> > » >> » 
3E> 5 > J> ». "> } >> > > » 

,.> > > > >■>< > • >> >> > 

>» > > > .» o •> 3e> >x>> j> 

•»> > > > » > y »vv> > 

2i>^ > > » > > >^> >^>'-> 

»-> > > > ■» > > > >• > > > > 

•»•> > . > > ■» » -» ■ >>>>■»> 

»> ->>>■> ^> > > > >> > 

» ■> > ..> > » ■> » >^ » -> 



sisSta*. 



> > > >>_> -> > 



» >J> J> » J > 0> 

:> > , > > > > » £> jo 
>-> > ^ > > » > '' i> 

»,">>> > » fir, >.» 
> > > > > > >T» 

>> » > > ~s> 



i ' >>> > :> j> :> :> 

>•> > > ■ 3e> j • ■• > > -> 

» » > ' >3 • ■ i > 3D > 

:o 3i > J>-> > • > > ) > 

>j » j» :> > • ■ ' > •>->». 

>j » > ^»> > >>' »S>-> ^> ■> ., 

~» »> •>>>■> ^>>> j> . 



»■> ■•> ~> > . 



> >>^ > 

i > > 1> 



> > 

• ;> 

■ j» » J» 

> 



> >x> > > 



>> J 

^->» > > 

> >^ > > > > 

» > ' > ^ 

> ■>:» > • > .J 

v >^2> > > 
) •• >2> J> > 

i ■ > . 

>. > >^> j> > j 

<» > 3> >> -> >'^W>> •■-» 



- > > >•> ^» ^ :» j 

_~> > »•> > >> 

>>:> > »■>>>>» 

»3 •> 



*> > ■» > . > . -> j> j y -*» ■ ■ ■.» > > > ■> » > jj _; 
1 » > >J> >> -) >>> > ig. ••> .-.)»■>.> 

> »> » 3» - ':.»••> - -» ->,"'_ 

>. >j> > jy» • > > j >> >>". -■> 

T» _ - ■ > 



>>> v. m >> > >2» > 



^1) 


> » ^> 1 


}» 


• 


,, 




» 


„ J> . - » 


'>» 


-> 


J 






> 






JQt»> > 
.^7> > >T) 









, > 

> > >» > >■»."» i- 
i ) ■ -> >»> ■> 3es» > ^ . 

> > . - 
» • > > ■ • 

, , . > >*» 









>> 



-» ^> > > 

» • -> > 


















> :> > > 



:.IK» > 3> :> 












1 




> *.;> .:> 




■>- .:» - 




9> * ^»- 3 


» 


l> > >1> 


^ 


>T> 


> 


»;>>. 


> 


<'3> ?» j2*» ■ 




m _ :SS> " 


> 


HB> >T> 


I> 



» 3»» y» > >';> > 



>-^j»»>:> >:» > £> > 



> a>> > 

j 3>J> > >■ 






-■ > i •■■ >w> 



> ^3»J Sri 

3K >>J~ 












> > »> 4- 

> '3, » •>7^- 






J>> }> J» x> > J - 









1> 3 > > ^> >X> 









£3S 


















.jo.- > > '• 



> J3S». X»:^ 



9» ■ >■ >3> 



> 



■>jt» raw ■• 



*^^ 



'j > Z3» >j»'> S& 1 















to x " » ^»» : 









> > *s> > . » > op^ 



> > J»» 









> l vV> ^> 






' "SS "4 > ~ 




014 753 221 



